


The Wounds He Keeps

by TheOnlyWife



Category: Danny Phantom, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Danny is dead, Danny's not a full ghost though, Ghosts, He's kinda like in canon, Or at least he has died, Spirits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:33:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23799298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOnlyWife/pseuds/TheOnlyWife
Summary: Merlin, fed up with prophecies, dragons, and magical beings, runs out into the forest. But when he stumbles across a shrine meant to appease the dead, he knows only bad news await him.
Comments: 94
Kudos: 261





	1. The Shrine

“Come on Gaius! I have a life you know. I don’t just want my entire existence to be based around Arthur and this prophecy that I’m supposed to fulfill.” Merlin was furious. Not at Gaius, but at everyone else. Arthur was a prat, the king was just plain awful, and it seemed like every magical being wanted him dead.

Gaius sighed, clearly not liking his wards attitude towards his destiny. “I know that Merlin, but it’s what must be done. You play an important role in the creation of-”

“I don’t care. I don’t care what the dragon says. I don’t care what Arthur thinks of me. I’m leaving for the night, and no one can stop me. Don’t even bother looking for me.” Merlin, too, was upset. All of this pressure placed on just an 18 year old. He couldn’t stand it. He stormed out before Gaius could say another word, slamming the heavy wooden door behind him. 

He walked through the town, determined to head out deep into the forest, as if that could calm him. He paused at Gwen’s house where she lived happily, no idea what was going through his head. Maybe if he told her that he had magic, told her what was expected of him...she would understand….

“No.” He told himself. He couldn’t place that much pressure on her.

He ended up ignoring all of the shops that he would normally stop at. Any other day he would see a delicious looking fruit and eat it while heading into the woods for some rare plants. Today he didn’t even look at them.

He did the bare minimum to get out, claiming that he was going to gather herbs for the town physician. They didn’t ask why he didn’t carry the basket he usually had with him while collecting. Passing the gate and walking fast along the cobblestone, the woods loomed not too far away. He turned and looked back. Good. He was far enough away that the guards couldn’t see him. 

He started running. He ran far into the woods to the point where he couldn’t even see the great Camelot tower; the trees covered most of his view even if he had turned around.

Eventually he slowed down, panting heavily trying to catch his breath. Hands on his knees, sweating profusely, and exhausted he enjoyed the cool breeze passing across his face.

It was only then that he realized he had no idea where he was. He knew these woods like the back of his hand, but couldn’t seem to find the usual landmarks that the citizens of Camelot left. No arrows plunged in trees, metal tip pointing towards civilization. No torn cloth hung on low hanging branches. Where on Earth was he?

He wanted to get some air, not get lost. Nevertheless he began wandering in the direction he thought was home. He’d calmed down enough to know that what he said to Gaius wasn’t right. Gaius didn’t deserve his harsh words.

He kept walking, but felt a chill run down his spine, and a sickening feeling of dread in his chest forming. A sign of a magical creature. He’d felt this same awful feeling around the dragon the first time he met him.

Seeing nothing though, he chalked it up to guilt for what he had said before he left. So he kept walking, hesitantly all be it.

But then he stumbled across the strangest thing. A shrine. It was something he had encountered before. Back when Arthur and the knights had come across one on a hunt. This was a shrine for a spirit. And an angry one at that. Bad things had happened to Arthur and the knights when one of them drank from the well that the spirit had drowned in.

The black and white cloth hanging on string was a warning to any passersby’s to not disturb the grounds here. He needed to leave. Now.

He turned, ready to run, but slipped on...ice? He fell hard on his leg and injured his right knee. Incredulous, he looked back and saw the strangest thing: a patch of ice. It was summer, so how on earth...?

And then he heard laughter. It was echoey and seemed to be very far away, even though it also felt like it was right in his ear. The dread settled in his stomach, heavy and painful. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest. 

And then he saw it. Wispy white hair, cloth hanging low and soaking wet with the stain of blood, and the faint glow only ghosts have.

The spirit got closer. It felt like death. The same feeling one gets when they know they’re about to die. The pure terror when they look down and see the arrow plunged deep in their heart.

He crawled backwards wildly, scraping his hands on the rough dirt and stone now embedded loosely in his hand. Maybe if he got out fast enough the spirit couldn’t follow. 

And to be fair, the spirit didn’t follow. But when it spoke next the words made him shake just a little bit. He felt tears pricking at the corner of his eyes when he saw the mouth of the spirit open and had just the faintest bit of blood showing.

“No need to get upset, it was just a little prank. I’m Danny! What’s your name?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think so far!


	2. Names, Names, Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All magical creatures knew who Merlin was. Even if they called him Emrys, they still knew who he was. So why didn't this spirit know?

The spirit held out his hand as if to welcome him, but frowned and let his hand fall back down to his side when he realized he was incorporeal. "Right...ghost. Still getting used to that." the spirit mumbled.

Merlin was still sitting on the ground, not desperate to get away anymore but also not sure what to do. The spirit hadn't attacked yet. Hadn't demanded Merlin help him get revenge on his clearly violent death. He just floated there, glowing eerily. It was kind of blinding, actually, but Merlin could still make out his general shape and facial features (he couldn't describe it in detail if asked, though).

They stared at each other for a bit, not moving. Now that he thought about it, it was kind of disturbing how still the spirit was. He wasn't breathing, Merlin realized. Another thing that was just a bit too creepy for Merlin to ignore.

"I-my name?" Merlin asked, unsure of what the spirit wanted.

"Yes, your name." The spirit rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You're sitting in the spot I died after all so I'd really like to know your name." The spirit clenched his hands like it bugged him to even think about his death but still didn't make a move towards Merlin.

"You mean you don't know who I am?" Merlin asked, confused. All magical beings knew who he was; he was Emrys to them. The boy from the prophecy. The boy who was 'destined for great things'. Surely this spirit knew who he was?

"Can't say I do". The spirit tilted his head and shrugged nonchalantly. "Kinda new around here after the whole dying thing…"

"My name's Merlin...but some call me Emrys" He said, waiting for a response of recognition. The spirit could know the name Emrys and just never have made the connection.

"Neat! Well like I said, I'm Danny! Don't really know my last name. I guess that got lost when I died..." So that's a no, then. Not even a hint of recognition.

"Yes, well, speaking of that," Merlin hesitated before continuing. Angering a spirit was not a sane thing to do after all. "You're not out for revenge are you? On whatever...or I guess whoever killed you?" Merlin asked cautiously and bit his lip. If this spirit was out for revenge he could possess him to do his bidding. Not interested in that, Merlin started to stand up slowly, using his hands that were still covered in soil to hoist himself up in case he had to get out of here as fast as he could.

"No no definitely not!" the spirit shook his head hurriedly. "I mean…" Danny sighed and clasped his left hand around his right arm and began gently rubbing it to calm himself down. "Ok so right away I was pretty angry. The whole revenge thing did cross my mind. But I took some time to think it out. Not like I could leave here anyway, I tried. I didn't want to hurt anyone. Dying wasn't fun and I don't want to make someone else go through what I went through".

"So then why are you still here? Surely if you're not here for revenge then you would have moved on to wherever the dead go?" Merlin asked him, genuinely curious as to why the spirit was still here. The one that possessed one of the knights moved on once he was content with his death.

Danny was taken back, if the rapid blinking and confused look were indeed a sign of how he was feeling.

"I...really don't know. Never thought about that…" Danny sighed, as if he needed to breathe. "Just another odd thing about me I guess." He ran his fingers through his hair, distressed at this newfound discovery.

"You have magic right? It feels like you do." Danny suddenly said, getting closer than Merlin was comfortable with. Though that feeling could also be someone outing him just like that. He'd kept his secret for this long and he wasn't about to let some random dead person ruin it.

"Magic? Me? No, I don't think so." He said, rushing through some excuse that he hoped would work for even a second. He knew it wouldn't.

Nevertheless he was curious as to how Danny knew he had magic. All magical creatures knew about him and his magic, but Danny didn't know the name 'Merlin' until today.

"No, I'm certain of it. It's hard to explain but you feel...warm. Like you have the sun inside you." Danny explained, trying to use his hands like he was telling a grand story. It just looked like childish flailing, but that the spirit was getting agitated was a bad sign.

At this point Merlin was willing to say anything to please the spirit before he showed his true vengeful nature. "Say I do. Which I don't. What is it you need magic for? It's banned, remember?"

"Yes yes I know, secrets, lies, and murder and all that." Danny waved his hand dismissively. "But if, by random chance, there happened to be someone with magic around, they might be able to help me move on."

Merlin was slightly intrigued by this. There wasn't anything in his magic book that dealt with spirits in the 'helping' sense. It all seemed to be on how to get rid of them. "What do you mean?"

"Well I don't know the details of magic since I wasn't raised around it. But what if there was some kind of spell that helped spirits rest in peace? Only someone who had magic would know." Danny said, gesturing to Merlin as if he had all the answers.

He really didn't; There were still things Merlin was learning about magic. He hadn't even read the whole of the book yet. Between dealing with Arthur, saving Camelot, and working with Gaius, he hardly had the time to read when he wasn't in peril.

"It's getting dark out. You should probably go home." Danny said, resting the palm of his right hand on his cheek innocently. "Maybe sit down and read a good book. Have a nice, long, informative talk with a friend."

Alright, Merlin would play along. Fate was giving him a way out. He wouldn't come back ever again. "Yes, of course. I do have chores to do."

Danny smiled widely. "So I'll see you tomorrow, then?" He looked so happy, even though his voice gave him away as just another lonely teenager.

Ok so maybe Merlin would return. If only to keep him company for one more day.

"Goodbye Merlin!" Danny said, waving to him. Merlin returned the wave, if only out of habit. He turned back to the way he thought he came in and started walking.

On his way out, passing the monochrome cloth hung up and bent branches scattered across the ground, he ended up stumbling across a rusty, broken arrow plunged into a tree. An arrow that pointed to Camelot, he knew.

Following it did indeed lead him back. But he ran into trouble the second he got to the gate. He forgot he told the guards that he was going out to collect herbs. Returning with nothing, not even a bag that they could assume held plants, was suspicious. Or at least it would be if he wasn't known for doing dumb things and getting into trouble. Of course while it meant that his reputation for being reliable was in the well, he could use it as an excuse for acting weirdly and doing odd things.

Instead the guards just shook their heads, disappointed as usual, and said nothing. He had the common sense to look shameful as he passed by quickly, head down. But once he got past the two guards, he shifted his eyes forward and picked up his pace.

He took a couple back alleys to get home. It really was dark out; If he didn't know this route by heart he would have gotten lost and scolded for breaking curfew.

Pushing open the door to his house, he hoped that Gaius was asleep. He shoved a foot in the door when he realized it was going to slam shut loudly. Gaius was probably asleep in his room and Merlin didn't quite feel ready to talk to him yet, let alone apologize to him. No, that could wait until tomorrow.

Yet feeling less stressed out than when he left, he went upstairs to his room. He gently closed the door behind him, ready to head to bed. Not to go to sleep though.

He stepped over the dirty laundry he hadn't gotten around to washing with all the chaos recently, and loomed over his bed. Crouching down to the floor, hands pushed against the cold stone, he reached under his bed and felt around for the magic book he kept under there.

"Aha" he exclaimed softly upon finding it. He grabbed the spine and pulled it out, cringing slightly when he heard the scraping against the stone. He stood up and dusted it off, even though there wouldn't be that much dust since he used it only four days ago.

"Ok then, Danny." He said quietly while plopping himself onto his bed, and opening the huge book of spells and magic incantations. "Let's see what I can do for you."


	3. The Half-Dead Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin has an idea for how to help. It may or may not work, but he's willing to try anything for his new friend.

The next day had gone terrible for Merlin, and it was hardly dawn by the time he would say so himself. 

He had spent all night trying to find something, anything to help Danny. There were several spells, but most tell how to appease or rid oneself of spirits. He was looking to help, not harm. If ghosts could feel pain, that is. Merlin hadn’t asked.

The unsuccessful night had only been made worse by Arthur being a prat as usual. Muck out the stables, polish his armor, draw him up a bath and help him dress. As if he couldn’t at least dress himself, like Merlin did every morning.

Merlin had hardly slept that night as well, too busy concentrating to notice the time of night until he saw the light coming in from his window. He was so tired, in fact, that Arthur had made fun of him for falling asleep while sitting down to polish his boots. The memory kept playing in his head on his way out in the forest. Tired as he may be, he promised Danny he’d come back. Even with no spell to help, the spirit seemed lonely. The least Merlin could do was keep him company.

Although exhausted and hungry from skipping lunch to make up for lost time, he had managed to come up with something. There was a spell, though more about ridding of spirits, that said ghosts were the energy of the dead, not the souls like most thought.

Merlin had come up with the idea to try and flow some of his magical energy into Danny. It was a hasty plan, but the only he could come up with. It could do nothing, it could make him stronger, or it could, best case scenario, give him the right energy to move on. It was worth a try at the very least. No spells involved and no one needed to know, especially if it doesn’t do anything.

His confidence in it working was very little, but coming upon the familiar cloth flowing on string and the sight of Danny free-floating a few feet off the ground mumbling to himself gave him just a bit more.

“Danny!” he called out. “I think I found something!”

Danny immediately perked up and flipped his head back to look at Merlin. “You came back!” He righted himself and turned to face Merlin, smiling all the while. “I didn’t think you would!”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Merlin asked, frowning.

“People get kind of freaked out when they see me.” Danny said, sounding just a bit more sad than before. “Creepy shrine? Floating, bloody kid? Weird glow?” He gestured all around, then to himself. “They don’t stick around long.”

“That’s...I don’t..” Merlin stuttered. “Well...you don’t freak me out.” he said quietly.

Danny shook his head. “It’s ok. You don’t have to pretend. I know I look weird.” he smiled just a tiny bit. “I’m just happy you came back.”

Merlin thought Danny seemed lonely, but he hadn’t seen this side of him before. Stuck here alone with only the memory of how he died? That was something even Merlin thought was too cruel. But Danny could still smile anyway. Merlin reached out to Danny to comfort him, but his hand passed right through his shoulder.

Danny floated a bit farther away. “Sorry. I don’t think anyone can touch me anymore.”

The thought made Merlin a bit sad. He was enough of an outsider having magic, nevertheless being a spirit who everyone feared.

“You said you found something?” Danny prodded.

“I think so, yeah.” Merlin said quietly. “It’s not so much of a spell as it is magical energy.” Danny tilted his head in question. “It’s like…”

He tried to think of a way to explain it. Danny hadn’t grown up around magic, he wouldn’t understand it like Gaius would. “Think of yourself as an unlit torch and I’m a lit one. I’m gonna try and give you some of my magical energy like you would light a torch with another torch.”

Danny nodded slowly. “If you think it’ll help me move on, then give it a shot.”

Merlin held out a hand, palm up. Danny moved his hand to hover over Merlin’s. “I don’t know if it’ll work since I can’t touch you. But maybe this will be enough.”

Merlin began to concentrate on his magic, moving it around and shifting it closer to the surface. He swirled it down his arm and to his hand. Danny moved his hand closer. They would have touched if Danny was tangible. Merlin closed his eyes, trying even harder to pull his energy outwards.

He felt something. Like a gentle numbness overcome his hand, then move to his arm, and then up to his chest and move across his body. It wasn’t unlike a limb beginning to fall asleep, but he could move just fine. Even through his closed eyes he could see a bright light shine through. 

“I think it’s working…” he heard Danny whisper. He took the opportunity to open his eyes and saw what Danny had seen. 

The shimmer of golden light encasing his palm was a beautiful sight. He saw the white glow surrounding Danny begin to grow brighter. “I think it is,” he said, in awe. “Are you ready?”

“I am.” Danny said, nodding once. “And...Merlin?” Merlin kept concentrating on keeping his magic up, but responded with a questioning hum. 

“Thank you. For helping me. And for being my friend, even for a little bit.” Danny smiled, letting a single tear fall. “I think I might miss you.”

Merlin, out of the corner of his eyes, saw a thick white fog begin to roll in. The glow from Danny grew even brighter. “It was nice to know you, Danny.” He closed his eyes tightly and began to pour more magic into his hand. “I hope we meet again.”

The glow grew so bright that through closed eyes it was unbearable. Then there was a single flash, even brighter than before. The next breath Merlin took in was filled with a smoke that wasn’t there before. He stumbled back, violently coughing, and letting his magic dissipate. He opened his eyes and saw only the fog he saw before. It was covering the forest floor, so high up he couldn’t see anything but the tops of the trees.

He couldn’t see Danny’s glow anymore and the air felt lighter. He hadn’t realized he’d been shivering before, but now that it had warmed up he noticed the chill in the air was gone. “Danny…?” he called out through his coughs.

He heard nothing but his own echo. Still, something felt off to him. The glow and chilly atmosphere was gone, yes, but he felt a strange presence that wasn’t there before. He tried looking through the fog but saw nothing. “Danny?” he called again, louder. This time he heard something. Not so much of a response as it was the intake of a breath that wasn’t his.

“Never trying that again.” Merlin muttered, holding back more coughs and trying to avoid inhaling the smoke that had filled the area. “Don’t think it worked.” He squinted through the quickly fading mist and saw the silhouette of Danny right where he last was, and heard him coughing lightly as well.

Merlin tried to speak but was interrupted by a violent cough yet again. “Guess not.” he said.

The rest of the bright white mist was quickly settling on the ground and fading from the air. Once clear enough he saw Danny was still floating a few inches off the ground, right where he had been. 

Merlin took a second to shake himself off, with Danny following suit, though taking a bit longer. He was looking all around his body, checking if anything was different, if Merlin had to guess. “You alright?” he asked.

Danny nodded, hovering towards Merlin and rubbing his arm. “I dunno, I feel kinda...different,” he said, once settled in front of him. “You sure it didn’t do anything?”

“Well you’re still floating so probably not.” Merlin pointed a finger down at his feet, which Danny looked down at. “Although…” Merlin took a longer look at Danny. Still floating, yes, but the white halo of light that was surrounding him was lessened, if not fully gone. “You’re not glowing anymore.”

“I don’t think it’s just that.” Danny said slowly.

“What do you mean?”

“Before, when there was that weird fog, I could breathe. And I was coughing too!” He took a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before letting it all out in one big gust. “I can still breathe!”

He gripped and ungripped his hands a few times. He then rubbed his hands together, like he was trying to warm himself. “And I feel more...solid.”

Merlin reached out to touch his shoulder once more, finding that he indeed could. Warm to the touch and with dried, crusted blood coming off his clothes in flakes, but solid. Danny looked just as surprised as he felt.

“What now?” Danny asked. “I don’t even know if I’m still a ghost.” He reached out to touch Merlin, tapping his shoulder twice. He brought his hand back down to himself and looked down at them. “If I can touch and breathe but still float...then what am I?”

“And if I am alive then...what do I do? I don’t exactly have a life to get back to.” He held himself, closing his arms around his chest. “I don’t think anyone even knows who I am anymore…” he whispered.

“...You could always come with me.” Merlin said quietly. “I’m sure we could find something for you to do.” Merlin finally took the time to really look at Danny, taking in everything now that the glow wasn’t present. “And you don’t look too out of place that people would question you. We’d just have to find you new clothes.” The bloody shirt and the acrid smell he just now noticed would give him away as not the average person from Camelot, but clothes could be changed and the smell could be washed away.

Danny looked confused, blinking rapidly as if it would clear his head.

“I could sneak you in and get you some of my clothes. We look alike enough, they’d probably fit, and you wouldn’t stand out much.” he said. The lost feeling Merlin saw on Danny’s face slowly started to fade away. For a minute or so he began to mumble to himself and make tiny gestures, nodding his head back and forth a few times along with it.

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. He hummed a little bit. “Yeah in fact..” Danny’s mouth grew into a small smile. “You might say that I could really live with that!”

Merlin smiled and rolled his eyes dramatically. “Ugh that was terrible!” he exclaimed.

“Aww come on it was funny!” Danny kept smiling and snickering like it was the best joke he’d ever told. “Was not,” Merlin mumbled just loud enough to be heard. Danny didn’t say anything though, just kept chuckling at Merlin’s expense.

Danny wiped a tear from his eye and gestured to the forest. “Lead the way to…?”

“Camelot.” Merlin said. “I live in Camelot.”

“Lead the way, then!” Danny said, smiling widely. Merlin smiled, starting to walk in the way he came from. He’d have to find another arrow most likely, but they were scattered everywhere in case people get lost. A waste of arrows some thought, but they were useful for people who forage in the woods.

Soon enough, incredibly soon, in fact, Merlin spotted one not too far way. Pointing in the right direction, as well. They had only been wandering so far. Danny had enjoyed seeing sights other than the small part of the forest he was stuck in.

Merlin smiled widely, nearly bouncing on his heels with excitement. He turned around to tell Danny, but saw him coasting along without touching the ground when he moved. It was a bit unsettling to look at, and the shiver down his spine was involuntary, but he wouldn’t bring that part up. Not like it was that much of a big deal. “Hey Danny?” he said. Danny hummed questioningly in response, bringing his attention back to Merlin.

“Hate to break it to you but people don’t normally float everywhere.” Merlin pointed down at Danny’s feet which seemingly hadn’t stopped hovering since they began their trek back. “Can you walk?”

“Oh right…” Danny said, looking down and frowning. He gently settled his bare feet down on the ground. But his legs gave way now that he actually had weight and the ability to fall. 

“Woah there!” Merlin rushed forward, arms extended, ready to catch Danny. Danny yelped, reaching forward towards Merlin. But he ended up falling through the ground. 

And Merlin just stood there dumbfounded. He certainly didn’t expect his new friend to still have the ghostly attributes that now kept him stuck below the ground. “Danny...?” He called out, but to no avail. Danny really was stuck in the ground if he wasn’t coming out right away.

Merlin looked around frantically for something to help him. “Danny!” he called out louder than before.

“Boo!” Danny said loudly, gripping the back of Merlin’s shoulders. Merlin would have jumped three feet in the air if he could manage it. He ended up jolting his whole body and yelping instead. He fell down to the ground and gasped for air, having gotten the scare of a lifetime.

While on the ground he heard Danny laugh uncontrollably. “Not cool!” he called over his shoulder. Danny just kept on laughing. He extended a hand to help Merlin up, though, which Merlin took. “You scared me half to death.” he said once he stood up, brushing the dirt off his knees.

Danny gasped. “Can I use that?” he asked enthusiastically.

“Sure?” Merlin said. “You’re ok with being called dead?” 

“I’ve been dead for years now. The only thing that’s different is that I can leave the forest. And breathe.” He tapped his chin in thought. “If being half dead means I can still do ghost things but be normal again then it can’t be so bad.”

“You can do ‘ghost things’?” he asked.

Danny nodded. “Like when I went through the ground? It freaked me out when I was first a ghost, but the abilities were cool. I could turn invisible and intangible. I could even control ice!”

“You can?” Merlin asked. He remembered his slipping on ice the first time he stumbled into Danny's shrine. He just hadn't known it was Danny who made it. “Can you show me?”

Danny extended a hand, mimicking what Merlin had done earlier. Danny scrunched up his eyes in concentration. White light began to pool in his hand, but he only managed to make a small snowball before letting out a huge breath and panting heavily. The snowball began to melt, slipping off of his hand and falling onto the ground.

“I guess I can’t anymore.” he said, glancing sadly down at the now wet dirt. “I used to make it snow all the time. And I would make little sculptures of the forest animals to pass the time. It would all melt pretty quick, but it was fun.”

“Maybe it’ll come back..” Merlin said. He placed a hand gently on Danny’s shoulder. “My magic isn’t always easy to work with.”

“Let’s keep going.” he said, pulling gently on Danny’s arm. “We’re almost there.”

“Really?” Danny asked, following closely behind Merlin. Sure enough, after a few minutes of walking, they reached the walls of Camelot. They were far from the entrance, but Danny was at a loss for words, going by how quiet he was, save for a few attempts at talking, which ended in nothing but a sputtered mess of sounds.

“You like it?” Merlin asked, gently laughing at Danny’s childish glee.

“It’s amazing!” he said loudly. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“The question is how we’re gonna get in. We can’t just walk in with you looking like that.” Merlin said, gesturing down at Danny’s blood-soaked clothes. Even if they weren’t, they were still dirty beyond all belief. It would be hard to get him past anyone wearing those clothes.

“I think I have an idea!” Danny said, grabbing Merlin’s hand. He began to run both of them towards the wall with no hesitation.

“Woah! What?!” Merlin exclaimed, keeping his eyes open wide from fear alone. He expected to run face-first into the wall, but was instead led right through it. Danny had slowed both of them down as he led Merlin into a dark alleyway.

“Warn me next time you decide to run through a wall, huh?” he said, leaning against the wall, gasping for air. 

“Sorry.” Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. “On the bright side, we’re in!”

Merlin looked around. They weren’t too far from home, too. They could just walk for not even a minute and cross the outer circle to get to Gaius’s house.

“You said something about invisibility, right?” 

Danny nodded. “I could turn invisible back when I was a full ghost.”

“Think you can do that now?”

Danny smiled, then promptly vanished from Merlin’s sight. He felt a hand grip onto his arm, tugging it twice. He took that as a cue that he was going to follow. Without another word he made his way, slower than usual, back to his house. Instead of going straight inside, though, he led Danny to a nearby alley.

“When we go inside, I want you to go right upstairs to my bedroom.” he whispered. “I need to tell Gaius about you before he sees you, ok?” He felt two tugs on his arm again.

This time he walked up to the door and opened it. Gaius was sitting on his workbench, grinding a mortal and piston. “Where have you been?” he said, setting his work down.

Merlin felt Danny let go of his arm and the gentle sound of footsteps go up to his room. “I...well I was taking care of chores of course. Arthur never lets me take a break you know?”

He sighed. “And...I want to apologize. I kind of stormed out on you a few days ago and I never said sorry. So...I’m sorry.”

Gaius’s expression softened. “I forgive you, Merlin.” he said.

Merlin began to laugh nervously. “I also might have done something stupid and maybe need your help.”

“What have you done this time?” Gaius asked, frowning. “Hopefully nothing to do with magic. Knowing you, though, that is probably not the case.”

“I think it’s best if you meet my new friend first.” he said, making his way across the floor and beginning to walk up the stairs. “He’s up here.”

“I didn’t see anyone come in.” Gaius questioned, following him.

“That’s kind of part of it.”

He started to call out a warning that he was coming in, but when he opened the door his heart dropped. He saw Danny floating cross-legged above his bed, his magic book open in his lap. “Hi Merlin!” he said, looking up and smiling. “I found this book under your bed!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter this time! Let me know what you think!


	4. The First Halo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only problem Danny had with going out was that he had to have a hood up the entire time. If only there was a way to change his appearance.

“Wake up, Danny, we have to go.”

Danny rolls over, wrapping the thin blanket around him tighter. He mumbles out a lazy “No” but only receives a gentle nudge in his back in return.

“Don’t make me use magic on you.” 

Danny grumbles some more, but sits up slowly anyway. Rubbing his eyes from the harsh light coming in from a nearby window, he looks all around him until he sees Merlin, fully dressed, standing in front of him. “How early is it?” Danny asks after a long yawn.

“Early enough that no one will notice us gone. Now get up, we’re going out.” Merlin says, snatching the blanket from Danny’s lap. He neatly folds in his arms and sets in on his bed. “If you go back to sleep, you’ll miss out on some _delicious food_.” he taunts.

Danny bolts upright, using his powers to bring himself standing even faster. “I don’t even know if I can eat,” he says, beginning to roll up the thick mat from when he slept on the floor the night before, “but we can find out!”

“That’s the spirit!” Merlin says, taking the mat from Danny and placing it under his bed. He throws a finger back at Danny. “And no that wasn’t a pun.”

Danny opens his mouth, but finds himself unable to say anything when Merlin's cupboard opens by itself, clothes floating out one by one. Mostly tunics, but some scarfs as well. There were a decent array of varying colors, some blue or green, but most were a deep brown. Merlin took one pair, a forest green one, and held it up to Danny’s chest, leaving the others to free-float around the room. “Think this one is a good look?” 

Danny took one glance down, seeing the loose, boring clothes Merlin had offered as sleepwear being covered by a pleasing dark green, and immediately fell in love with it. “It’s perfect!” he says, taking the tunic from Merlin's hands. He runs the fabric over his hands, noting the slightly different texture. He holds it up to the sunlight, noticing that it is not only thicker than what he slept in, but softer too.

“You’ll need this as well.” Merlin says. Danny brings the tunic back down and locks eyes with Merlin, holding out a light gray cloak for Danny to wear. He takes it hesitantly, folding it over his arm along with the other clothes. “What for?” he asks.

“To hide your hair. It’s not common for people outside of magical origin to have white hair.” Merlin points down at the cloak. “That’ll help hide it until we can find a solution.”

“If you say so. I think it looks pretty cool!” Danny says, pulling down some of his hair to look at it. “You should probably go somewhere else while I change though.”

Merlin nods, letting the clothes still suspended float back into his closet. He walks towards the door once the cabinet closes and locks with a satisfying click. Just before closing the bedroom door behind him he shouts “Come down when you’re done!”

Danny changed rather quickly, given that he hadn’t in a long time. Being able to grab his shirt and phase it off of himself came in handy. He throws on the shirt, which is just a bit too big for him, and wraps the cloak around his shoulders as well. 

He'd be wearing the same dark brown pants as last night, since it fit, but it felt so much better to wear something clean.

He does a little twirl in place once all of it is on, giggling quietly. “ _Finally got new clothes_ ” he whispers to himself.

He struts down the stairs, head held high, making exaggerated walking motions. Merlin is waiting at the bottom, small basket in his hands, slightly amused by his antics.

“Enjoying the look, are we?” he says, letting a small chuckle make its way out. “Come on, we have things to do.” He waves Danny to follow him out the door, which Danny does.

The night before, when Merlin had brung Danny into the walls of Camelot, Danny hadn’t gotten the chance to look around. He had phased them both through the wall, but was too busy trying to not get him and Merlin caught to take a good look around.

And now that he was seeing it for the first time in broad daylight, the place seemed alive. People were walking along cobblestone. Dirty as it might be, the stone had a certain pattern to it. Thick bricks laid row after row across the floor, some gray, some brown from being walked on for what Danny could only guess was decades, and a few were even missing. But people seemed to walk around those without even looking down.

And then there were the beautiful colors of the marketplace. Some people were selling textiles: clothes, rugs, and other weaved fabric in all the colors Danny could imagine (and some he couldn’t).

Some were selling fruit, most of which he hadn’t seen. Some in a long time, those being the ones he had eaten before he died. But others that he’d never seen. Bright orange ones, dark green ones, and dull yellow ones covered the entire storefront of one particular vendor.

Danny felt small compared to the variety of things he had never seen before. “This is amazing.” he said, breathlessly.

“It’s just the marketplace.” Merlin said, stepping out into the street. “Nothing special.”

“Nothing special? Look at it!” Danny took another look around, noticing more and more the farther down the row of buyers and sellers he looked. “It’s nothing like the forest.”

Merlin paused to think, letting the flow of the crowd lead them down the marketplace. “Have you never seen a marketplace before?”

Danny shook his head. “Not really. In my village we had people who sold things, but it was pretty local. If you wanted something, you could just go to their house and ask them.”

They wasted some time walking around looking at the shops, Merlin taking the time to explain how the marketplace worked. From dawn to dusk, it ran. Some people took breaks, some had their wards take over during meal time, and some took down their shop early to get their own shopping done.

When the crowds got a bit too much for the two of them to stick together, they parted off to the side to sit down until the early morning people went off to work on their own business.

“You have to keep it up.” Merlin said, when Danny tried to pull the cloak’s hood down.

“Why is no one else wearing one?” he asks, nodding his head at the crowd of people in the marketplace. Most were wearing clothes similar to Merlin’s. The men especially were remarkably similar in appearance. The women weren’t wearing a cloak, as Danny thought they would be, based on his knowledge from before he died. He would have thought the woman here would look more regal and formal, but they looked the same as the men. The only difference was they were wearing long skirts instead of pants.

“Usually only the royalty wear one. I ‘borrowed’ this from Arthur a while ago and he hasn’t noticed yet.” Merlin says, reaching over and pulling the hood of the cloak farther back up. “It’s odd for you to be wearing one, but not so odd that people pay much mind.”

“It’s annoying, is what it is.” Danny huffed out a breath, shifting the hood farther back so he could breathe easier. “Can’t I take it off for just a bit?”

“Not unless you can change your hair in the next ten seconds.” Merlin deadpanned.

Danny perked up. “So if I could then I wouldn’t have to wear this thing?” He smiled, sitting up straight against the wall. “Well I’ll have you know that I’ve been trying out my powers ever since we left the forest!”

“Oh? Can you make _bigger_ snowballs now?” Merlin taunted, nudging his arm. “Or do you need help with that too?”

“And here I thought you weren’t a jerk.” Danny punched Merlin’s arm jokingly, shoving him slightly farther into the alley. Merlin just laughed, sitting back up and leaning once again into Danny.

“Well go on, show me what you can do!”

Danny nodded once, closed his eyes tightly, and clenched his fist at his side. Merlin was about to ask what he was doing when he felt a chill breeze roll in. He shivered involuntarily, but kept his eyes on Danny, who was beginning to glow slightly.

Danny’s hood rolled farther over his head, covering him from view. Merlin kept watching, not sure what to expect.

He couldn’t have predicted, however, that a flash of white, similar to the time Danny had changed when they were back in the forest, would happen. A small ring formed around his body, and Merlin was suddenly thankful they were in a secluded alley, as the bright halo traveled quickly down Danny’s body.

Once the halo disappeared, the chill wavered off into the air, letting a warm one take its place. “Danny…?” Merlin said quietly.

Danny reached a pale hand up to the hood and slowly pulled it back. Instead of white hair sitting on top of his head, dark black hair took its place. Merlin locked eyes with Danny and noticed that not only had his hair changed color, but his eyes had. They were now a strikingly deep blue. He was also paler, of which Merlin couldn’t figure out why.

“How do I look?” Danny asked. He reached a hand up to pull down some of his hair, going cross-eyed for a second. 

“Different.” Merlin answered.

“I feel different, too.”

“How so?”

“Weaker.” Danny said. He reached a hand out, palm up. He scrunched up his eyes in concentration. Merlin noticed tiny snowflakes form in his hand, but nothing beyond that. The snowflakes faded as Danny lost concentration. 

He let his hand drop, sighing. “No more snowballs for me.”

“Try something else. How about going invisible?” Merlin offered.

Danny brought his hand back up, easily erasing it from view. He brought his other hand in front of him, also turning it invisible. “Guess that still works.”

“It reminds me of magic used to change one’s appearance.” Merlin mused. “It’s usually done by way of a complicated spell.”

Merlin remembers a while ago in which he saved Arthur from a woman who changed her appearance to get close to the prince in order to kill him as vengeance for her son. It was actually how Merlin got the job of working under Arthur. He couldn’t decide if it was a blessing because he got to keep a watchful eye on Arthur or a curse because Arthur was a prat.

“Can you do something like that?” Danny asked, bringing Merlin out of his thoughts.

“No, that’s too complicated for me right now. But I’m getting better.” Merlin thought about it. He was making steady progress in both knowledge and strength. Maybe someday he would be able to accomplish a spell like that.

“For now though, let’s go eat.” Merlin stood up and brushed off his pants.

Danny jumped up, using his powers to float higher up than if he were standing normally. “Finally!” he exclaimed happily.

“Be careful about using your powers like that.” Merlin warned sternly. “If people think you’re using magic you could be put in jail or hurt.”

“It’ll be fiiine.” Danny said, brushing passed him and into the street. He bumped into someone walking in the opposite direction almost immediately. Merlin had to apologize to the angry man himself, rushing to catch up with Danny.

Danny led them around, unsure of where he was going, but excited nonetheless. He wandered about in the textiles area, which meant Merlin had to steer him in the area with food vendors before Danny got them lost. Or worse, spent their money getting something they had no use for.

However, Danny kept bumping into things. Stalls, people, even bricks that were missing on the ground made him stumble.

Merlin nudged Danny and held out his hand. “Hold on for now.” he whispered. Danny did so, grabbing onto the bottom of his sleeve tightly instead of his hand. They started walking again, slower than before.

Merlin had to lead them away from barrels sticking out and people standing off to the side several times, but by the time they had gotten their breakfast, as well as Gaius’, Danny had almost no trouble doing it by himself.

After that they had found themselves sitting in another alleyway, eating their food. Danny had wanted to eat something from home. The only things he recognized immediately were apples, of which someone in his town had been growing them yearly. He had picked out two large red ones for the both of them, and was currently scarfing his down much faster than Merlin was slowly eating his. Danny only seemed to get more energetic the more he ate.

Merlin had gotten a ripe mango for Gaius, one of his favorite fruits, and left it in the mostly empty basket he had brought along. He had to swat Danny’s hand away from it a few times though. Danny seemed to get the message after the third time, though Merlin didn’t miss the longing look he gave it.

Finished with their breakfast, they dropped off the mango to Gaius, who was busy making potions. He thanked them, but Merlin explained that it was the least he could do for taking in Danny.

Merlin led Danny upstairs, where he tossed the basket onto his bed to deal with later. “I have some time before my chores. How about we go into the forest to train? We can see what you can still do.” he offered.

Danny quickly agreed, eager to goof around with Merlin instead of working. He'd been incredibly energetic ever since they had eaten, and Merlin figured he could use an outlet, so they left immediately, Danny much more excited than Merlin. Danny had offered to be invisible while they left through the gate or even just phase them through the city walls. Merlin turned him down. He knew the guards wouldn’t even question Danny. Traveling merchants and their families came through all the time. What was one more young boy going into the woods?

Once they got far enough away from the city, Merlin stopped them, leaving a bit of room between him and Danny for ample fighting distance. “Alright, then.” he said, readying himself. “Let’s see what you can do.”

Danny smiled wickedly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yes.” he taunted lightly. He let the halo of light appear at his chest, quickly splitting and travelling up and down him once again. The snow white hair, green eyes, and white glow reappeared. “Let’s see what _you_ can handle.”


	5. Phantasm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a quick sparring match Merlin asks the big question: How did Danny die?

One thing Merlin had learned when it came to Danny was that he was an expert at dodging. They’d barely been sparring for a minute and he hadn’t been able to land a single shot. Danny had landed two smacks to the head on Merlin, taunting him all the while.

“Fight fair, you coward!” Merlin shouted at the seemingly empty forest. A second later he got his forehead flicked. He rubbed out the pain, but whipped his arm around trying to feel for an invisible Danny. 

“And here I thought having a friend with cool powers would be fun!” he taunted when he didn’t feel anything. “For an overpowered little kid, you’re pretty lame!”

He heard an indignant “Hey!” from his right, and spun around to smack where he thought Danny was. He landed the body shot he was hoping to hit, pushing Danny back a few feet. This made Danny falter in his concentration and lose his invisibility.

“How about we stay visible this time, huh?” Merlin taunted, letting his hand fall back down to his side. He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you need it to win, that is.”

Danny turned away mockingly, huffing out a breath. “I was _hoping_ you’d use some cool magic tricks.” He turned back, eyes glowing bright green. He quickly stuck out a finger, shooting out a small green ray that Merlin had to duck to dodge. “Guess I’ll have to _make_ you.”

Merlin got into a battle stance. “Bring it on.”

Danny lunged forward, feet off the ground, arms extended. Merlin ducked out of the way of Danny’s grasp. But Danny just took the opportunity to whip back around and reach for Merlin’s legs. 

Before Merlin could dodge, Danny had one hand around his right leg. He turned it intangible, making Merlin begin to lose his balance. Merlin responded by looking over at a nearby branch and using magic to bring it to him. He used it to hold himself up, taking the opportunity to shake off Danny’s loose grip on his leg.

Once Danny was back upright and farther away, Merlin threw away the branch. “You’re gonna have to try harder than that!” he said.

Danny growled out, extending his entire hand to shoot out another bright green ray. Merlin responded by letting loose a fireball from his hand to collide with it. When they touched, both of their attacks disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Danny slowly landed on the ground, Merlin keeping a watchful eye on him. Danny looked all around Merlin, locking onto something above him. He fired a smaller ray at the tree above Merlin. Merlin quickly jumped to the side as a large branch came crashing down where he once stood.

“Cheap shot.” Merlin said, quickly shooting another fireball off towards him. Danny turned intangible, letting it pass through him harmlessly. The fireball landed on a tree behind him, charring the middle of it.

“It’s fair play!” Danny said, smirking.

Merlin took his turn looking around for something to use to his advantage. He saw a root sticking up from the ground just a few feet back from where Danny stood. He used magic to bring it closer to Danny’s feet as silently as he could.

He began to walk towards Danny, forcing him to take a few steps back. “Is that all you have? Cheap shots?”

Just as Danny was about to trip, Merlin’s plan was quickly forgotten when he found himself suddenly lying on his back. “Ow.” he whispered, slowly sitting up and rubbing his sore back, feeling confused and dazed.

Danny started laughing, clutching his side from laughing too hard. “I can’t believe you fell for that twice!” He said in between laughing fits.

Merlin sat up and looked at the ground behind him. He saw an almost invisible patch of clear ice. He remembered the same thing happened the day he met Danny, who played a prank on him. “Not again.” he mumbled.

Danny floated over, extending a hand to help him up. Merlin took it, thinking he was to pull himself up using it. Instead, he started floating weightlessly up. He gasped loudly when Danny pulled him all the way like he weighed nothing. 

Danny set him back down on the ground once he was upright and let go of his hand. Once he did, the floaty feeling disappeared as well.

“You can do that?” Merlin asked breathlessly. “Make other people float?”

“Sure can!” Danny said proudly, flashing a toothy grin.

Merlin rubbed his still-sore back again. “We’ve got to try that again. The floating, that is.” Danny held out his hand, making a small snowball, which he handed to him. Merlin took the snowball and spread it against his back, chilling the pain. 

Danny floated over to a nearby tree, sitting himself against it. “We can agree that I won, yeah?” he asked, hands clasped behind his head, but breathing a bit heavier than normal.

Merlin followed him over to the tree, taking the spot next to him. He was careful not to lean against it, as that would hurt his back even more, but sitting on the ground was enough to cool down from a sparring match.

‘Cool down’ took another meaning when Danny’s eyes started glowing bright green and it started snowing lightly. Merlin looked around and saw that only the small area near them had snow. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“Told you I’ve been practicing.” Danny said, creating a small snowball in the palm of his hand. He squished it, spreading the snow all around his bare hand, and letting the rest to fall down on the ground. “Can’t do it when I look normal though.”

“You mean the ‘you’ with black hair?”

“Yeah. I can only do it when I look like this.” He gestured up towards his white hair and green eyes. “I can turn intangible and invisible when normal though. And fly, I think..”

“You can fly? I thought you could only float.” Merlin asks, holding out his hand for another snowball, which Danny had made for him.

“I’ve been practicing when we’re in town. No one really looks down, and these clothes are baggy, so it’s pretty safe.”

Merlin knew his clothes were loose, but he would have thought that at least one person would have looked down to see a strange kid whose feet never touched the ground.

“Think I want a cool name for when I look like this, though.” Danny said. Merlin saw his eyes were no longer glowing, which made the snowfall stop almost immediately. “Any ideas?”

Merlin hummed, wracking his brain for an answer. Danny would appreciate a good pun, he knows, but what he would like was hard to say.

“Ghoul?” Merlin mused. “Wraith?”

Danny scrunches up his face. “Those sound terrible!”

“Shade?”

“I’m not a shadow.” Danny huffs out.

“Phantom?” Merlin tries.

Danny nods his head a few times, trying it out in his head. “That’s not too bad.”

He sits up straight, putting his hands on his hips. “I am Phantom” he says quietly, adjusting his hands to sit crossed over his chest. “I’m Phantom.” he says, deeper than before.

Merlin does nothing, leaving Danny to his antics. He watches as Danny tries it out a few more poses, before nodding happily. “I like it!” he says. 

“It might be better to have a different name for this form.” Merlin adds helpfully.

Danny nods in agreement. “I like it.” he reaffirms. 

“Anything fun happening around town that I should know about?” Danny asks, handing Merlin the small snowball. He nods in appreciation, spreading the snow to cool the entirety of his hand like Danny did.

Merlin debates telling him about his encounters with magical beings. Just hearing about the dragon would get him excited. But, ultimately, he decided against it. Nothing good could come of Danny knowing that much about magic. As fun as Danny was to be around, he had practically no filter. He was going to get the both of them killed if Merlin told him too much.

“Not much, really. Saved Arthur a couple times, but it’s mostly herb gathering for Gaius that I spend my days doing.”

Danny crosses his arms under his chest, narrowing his eyes. “That can’t be all there is.” He gestures towards Merlin. “You have _magic_.”

Merlin chuckles quietly. “No, really, not much goes on around here. I get into trouble with Arthur sometimes, but it’s pretty boring otherwise.”

Danny looks unsatisfied with his answer so Merlin asks, “What about you?”

Danny shakes his head, either not noticing or ignoring the deflection. “Nothing much went on around the forest. I mean sometimes people got close, but no one ever came near enough to see me.” He pauses to think. 

“There were a few people who came near the shrine like you did, but they saw the wires and never came in.” He nudges Merlin in the side and laughs. “Maybe you could learn something from them.”

Merlin shrugs. “I always get into trouble like that. It hardly works out in my favor, but it just so happened that it did this time.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit, Danny making more snow once the bit that was there had melted. Almost pointless, but it let him get more practice in. It also gave him something to play with in his hands.

“There was _one_ thing that happened though…” Danny says slowly, letting his snow-making slow to a crawl and letting the ball in his hand melt until it was dripping onto the ground.

“What was it?”

“There was another spirit.” Danny says, dropping his now wet hands to rest on his knees. “A young boy.”

“Did you know him?” Merlin asks, letting the cooling snow drop from his hands and melt into the ground.

“No, I didn’t recognize him. I tried to talk to him once, but he never seemed to hear me. Or see me for that matter. He just kept wandering back and forth across the forest, sometimes passing by my shrine, but never going in.”

Merlin has been travelling in these woods for months now, with many trips that lasted for hours upon hours looking for the herbs Gaius requested. He’s never seen a spirit wandering around like Danny said. Curious as ever, he says “Can you tell me what he looked like?”

“He had on chainmail on...and a shirt with a shield on the front. Bloody on the left side of his chest, too. Kind of what I looked like when you first found me.” He laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe I _did_ know him after all.”

“Sometimes...sometimes I saw an arrow where the blood was though.” Danny says. “I think it was how he...you know.”

“Died?” Merlin fills in. Danny nods once sharply. 

Merlin wants to ask the big question that he’s been wondering, but isn’t too sure. He thinks it might be a bit rude. Before, he even thought that spirits were angry, vengeful things. His opinion has changed drastically since he met Danny, who was no less than an energetic little kid in his mind. But who’s to say it isn’t true?

Merlin decides to test the waters. “Can I ask you about yours?” 

Danny stiffens, hardening his gaze to the forest floor. “It’s hard to talk about. It hurts to even think about.”

Merlin turns his body towards Danny and leans in. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He says softly.

“I think I need to.” Danny says quietly, before taking a deep breath. He lets it out slowly. 

“There were raiders. A lot of them. Sometimes they were different men, but they’d come and take everything we had every week. Food, clothes, money….sometimes people. I lost a lot of good friends to the raids. No one knows what happened to them.”

Danny takes in a shaky breath, letting it out slower than the last. “We couldn’t defend ourselves. We had weapons, and most knew how to fight with swords, but they took those away quickly so we couldn’t fight back.”

“We tried fighting back without them, using whatever we could find. Lit torches, sharpened sticks, anything, really.” He closed his eyes tightly, blinking back tears. “It didn’t work. I was one of the first to go down.”

Danny stands up quickly, taking a few steps away from Merlin. He wrapped his arms around his chest, holding back what sounded like sobs. “Sorry. I can’t talk about it anymore.”

Merlin reaches a hand out, but puts it down just as fast. Danny clearly didn’t want to be touched. Those raids, though. They sounded familiar to Merlin. If he remembers correctly, it’s the same raids that happened not too long ago, to _his_ village.

“I think I know what you’re talking about.” Merlin says. Danny doesn’t move, just wraps around himself tighter. “...I lost a friend to one.” Merlin says quietly.

Danny’s head lifted a bit, he turned towards Merlin, and his shoulders loosened bit by bit. “You did?” he whispers just loud enough to be heard.

Merlin nods. “A town was being raided so often they were starving. They tried hiding food, but it was found quickly and they were punished.”

Danny walks back towards Merlin, sitting down on the ground once more, and urging him to say more.

“Arthur came to help, which led into a battle for the town. They won, but when Arthur was about to be attacked, my friend stepped in to save him.”

Merlin sees Danny loosen back up into a calmer state slowly. But then Danny furrows his brows. He crosses his legs under himself. “Why did no one else come to help?”

Merlin remembers why, but knows it won’t end well if Danny figures it out. “It isn’t for a good reason that no one did. I don’t think you need to know why.”

“I need to know, Merlin.” Danny reaches out to grab his hand, gently squeezing it. “ _Please_.” he pleads.

Merlin squeezed Danny’s hand back, sighing lightly in anticipation, before letting go of Danny’s hand. “It all started when Arthur went into a meeting with King Uther.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone leaving comments! It's really encouraging me to write more!


	6. Frostbitten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin tells the story of the raiders, but Danny's darker side making an appearance scares him more than he could imagine.

“The king dismissed Arthur’s plea for the people being raided to be assisted. Arthur stormed out, going hunting with the knights that night.” Merlin began, resting his back on the tree he was sitting near.

“He came back and let me go home for the night, claiming he had to think. I stayed longer because I still had chores to finish. I saw him that night, pacing around his room and muttering to himself. I knew he was feeling guilty about not being able to help Camelot’s own people.”

Danny nodded along, resting his glowing hands on the floor where he sat in front of Merlin.

“A few days later a woman burst into the great hall. She fell onto the floor and begged the king to help her.” Merlin swallowed hard. “It was my mother.”

“Did he…?” Danny asked, uncertain of how to feel. “Did he help?”

“He did. But not before my mother begged him on hands and knees.”

“Why did it take that to make him do something?” 

“It’s not for a good reason. Are you sure you want to hear what he had to say?” Danny didn’t hesitate before he nodded.

“Arthur told me, long after the final battle to save my mother’s town, that in the meeting with the king, he asked that very question.” Danny nodded along once more, urging Merlin to continue. Merlin took a deep, steadying breath.

“He said he didn’t want to ‘waste good men defending a bunch of filthy peasants’.”

“...Sorry if that was too much.” Merlin said softly. Danny hung his head, unusually quiet. Silent, in fact. Merlin grew worried when a minute passed and there wasn’t so much as a single sound from him. “Danny…?” 

Danny was still as a corpse, unmoving. His chest was missing the steady rise and fall that would indicate breathing. Merlin hadn’t realized that his Phantom form never breathed until now.

“Are you ok?” he tried again, hesitantly reaching out to touch Danny’s hand. It was freezing cold, with frost coating his fingertips and spreading down. Merlin shivered and pulled back. The frost was beginning to swallow Danny’s hand and crawl up his forearm.

His head was hung low but Merlin could see the tensed muscles in the back of Danny’s neck. He swallowed hard, taking in a breath he hadn’t noticed he hadn’t taken in some time.

“Danny?” he whispered. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a thick fog begin to roll in. He recognized the way Danny’s glow bounced off of it, reflecting it onto the trees so that even they looked to be glowing with a heavenly light.

He leaned in towards Danny, careful not to touch his now frosted-over arm. “Please say something.” 

Merlin tried looking into his eyes, but saw only a sickening red. His eyes were wide open and sharp, but strikingly blood red. It wasn’t just the pupils, either, it was the whole of his eyes. Like a beast out of his magic book, he saw only red, not able to tell if he was being watched or not.

Danny’s body was shaking hard, but not shivering. He started to rise up from the floor, uncurling his legs as he went. Merlin mirrored him, cautiously standing as well. He saw Danny’s gripped fists, slightly shaking at a different pace from his body. There were trickles of blood running in between where his fingers dug into his palm, flowing down and collecting on the tips of his knuckles.

“Danny you’re scaring me...” Merlin said with a quivering voice. “Please say something.”

“Why…?” Danny spoke, echoing around the forest. Merlin was afraid that someone would hear the unnatural wave of sound Danny produced, even though they were far away from Camelot.

“Why...what?” he said, unable to keep the whimper down when Danny whipped his head around. The red glow from Danny’s eyes bore into his own.

“Why did no one help me?” he said, with a chilling echo to match the ones that Merlin had heard in the great hall. His eyes glowed brighter, turning into a sickeningly darker shade. “Why did he not…?”

The blood steadily gathering in his palms poured out when Danny unclenched his hands. It spilt onto the forest floor and Merlin could swear he heard a sound every time another drop fell. Danny floated silently across what little space there was between him and Merlin.

Danny's hands reached out and gripped Merlin’s shoulders tightly. Danny’s blood coated nails dug into his shoulder. The frost from Danny grew along Merlin’s arm, burning into the part of his skin that was showing. Merlin bit back a cry of pain.

“Why did I have to die?” Danny’s echo grew louder, scaring what wildlife that hadn’t already fled when the fog appeared. A couple of red robins flew away, silent save for a single chirp of warning to each other.

“Danny you’re hurting me.” Merlin pleaded quietly. “Please let go.”

Danny’s grip didn’t loosen, nor did it tighten. The frost halted it’s painful pace across Merlin’s skin. Danny could hear him, but wasn’t in full control, then.

“ _Why_?” Danny said once more, echo diminishing in intensity. “Why did I die?”

“I don’t know.” Merlin whispered. “But please calm down.” He tried to pull off Danny’s hands, but found that he couldn’t take them off his shoulder. They only gripped harder when he tried. He could move his arms, though. So he did the best thing he could think of.

Merlin hugged Danny. As tight as he could without limiting his own breathing. His arms were under Danny’s, swinging up to touch Danny’s back.

Danny let out a noise that sounded like a breath, even though no air moved. The grip on Merlin loosened until his hands were only touching instead of holding. Eventually the hands, along with Danny’s arms, dropped.

Merlin dared to close his eyes. “It’s alright, Danny.” he said softly. “It’s ok.”

They stayed like that for a while. Merlin couldn’t tell, but he assumed Danny was worming his way back into control. He just kept whispering “It’s ok.” over and over until, finally, Danny returned his hug.

When Merlin let go and backed off, he saw that Danny had faded out of his Phantom form. The transformation must have been gradual, since Merlin hadn’t seen any bright light. He’d have to figure out how to do that with Danny later.

For now, though, he kept a reasonable distance from Danny. The blue eyes had long since replaced the red, but the glaze over his eyes was just not fading.

“S-sorry. For scaring you.” Danny said, voice quivering. “Sorry. I’m so _sorry_.”

“It’s ok.” Merlin said for what felt like the hundredth time. He meant it. Getting angry was a very human thing to do, even if Danny doing it was scary. They could work on that together, if Danny was willing. If Danny could forgive himself, now that he was forgiven.

“The way you were talking earlier. About the spirit you saw.” Merlin said, gently breaking the silence. “I thought it might have been my friend.”

Danny reaches a hand out to grab Merlin’s. He could tell Danny felt uncertain by the way he barely held on. His grip was loose in order to make sure Merlin could let go if he wanted. He appreciated the gesture as an apology for what he had done earlier.

“Can you tell me more about him? What he looked like or how he died?” Danny squeezed Merlin's hand as gently as he could, mindful of both of their injuries. “Anything helps.”

Merlin could, in theory. Will had died to a crossbow bolt to the chest and was wearing chainmail when he died, just like Danny had described. If it was him, Merlin might be able to talk to him again. Thank him for keeping his secret. Get to finally say goodbye.

But that was in theory. When he tried to speak up his voice died in his chest. He had to blink to clear the haze fogging up his vision. It was too soon. 

Even if it wasn’t. Even if he pushed past the feeling. He didn’t want to see Danny get angry like that again. It was not only scary to watch, but he didn’t want to see Danny suffer again.

“I can’t.” Merlin said, letting go of Danny’s hand. Danny let it happen, dropping his own hand back to his side.

“....With the way I was acting I might have to be put in that book of yours.” Danny let out a weak chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck gently. “Kinda scary, huh?”

Merlin relaxed his shoulders just a bit. He let out a breathy, quiet laugh. “I might have to be in there, as well. My eyes glow when I use magic.”

“I dunno, I think it looks cool.” Danny offered. “Not like whatever _that_ was.”

Merlin took in Danny’s downtrodden glare at his own blood stained hands. He recognized that look, as well as the feeling that came with it.

“You’re not a monster, you know.”

Danny’s eyebrows wrinkled. He said nothing in response, only clasped his injured hands together gently. He held them to his chest, near his heart. 

“I hurt you.” Danny whispered.

“You’ve had something bad happen to you.” Merlin said, tilting his head slightly so he was forced into Danny’s line of sight. “You’re _not_ a monster.” Danny still refused to make eye contact.

“Look.” Merlin said. He held up his hand, letting the tiniest bit of magic flow into his hands in the form of ethereal golden light. “Does this make me a monster?” he took Danny’s hands, putting their palms together. He whispered a spell under his breath. When he was finished Danny’s hands, along with his own frost-bitten hands, were healed. Not even a scar was left behind as evidence. Danny turned his hands over, touching the areas that were injured.

“Does this make me a monster?” Merlin asked again. Danny’s eyes caught his. They stared at each other, Merlin unwilling to give in.

“No.” Danny said quietly. “I guess it doesn’t.”

“Then you’re not a monster, either. You’re not a freak or a demon.” Merlin brought his hands up to show Danny that he was no longer injured. “There’s a reason you behaved that way. I understand and I’m ok.”

Danny said nothing again, taken to staring at Merlin’s chilly, red, but uninjured hands.

“I want you to say it.”

“What?” Danny dropped his hands and looked away from Merlin’s. 

“I want you to say that you’re not a monster.”

“But-”

“I want you to say out loud that you’re not a monster.”

Danny sighed, blinking to clear his head. “I-I’m not a monster.” he whispered.

“Louder, Danny.”

He sent Merlin a pleading glare. Merlin needed Danny to understand what took him a long time to learn. What he had to learn on his own. What he had spent nights crying about when another person with magic was killed solely for existing.

“I’m not a monster.” Danny said louder, but still quiet.

“Good.” Merlin said, reaching out his arms to hug Danny. Danny accepted, closing the gap between them once more. They interlaced their arms across each other, holding on like the world was ending. 

“You’re not a monster. Never forget that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is still updating! I have a chapter by chapter summary, so there is an ending in sight. I plan on finishing, but I'm working at my own pace :)


	7. Don't Dwell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two of them, who already have had enough for the day, get pulled into yet another situation they have to deal with: drunk knights who think they're more than just friends.

Sunsets reminded Merlin of his own magic. He got a glimpse into what others saw when they looked into his eternal flames. Ethereal orange crossed with the warm feeling of a fireplace in the winter. Comforting, soft, yet blinding and painful.

“Ah! Too bright!” Danny said, covering his eyes from the impact of light.

Or, as Danny so elegantly put it, very bright. Merlin copied Danny, putting his hand up to shield his eyes from the setting sun. “That _is_ how the sun works, my friend.”

“Oh, righhht. I _totally_ forgot about that little fact, _friend_.” Danny rolled his eyes. “How clumsy of me.”

“No need for snark so late in the day.” Merlin said, stepping over a large branch that blocked their path. His eyes glowed amber as he lifted another low-hanging branch from their path and moved it out of the way.

The sun was setting, yes, but the sky was turning a dark blue shade before their eyes. They had a bit of a trek home, so it would be dark by the time they got back.

“You started it.” Danny argued back. He took a second the phase through a knocked-over tree in the path. “Say…”

“Hmm?” Merlin hummed, hopping over the same tree. The two of them keep walking at a brisk pace.

“Aren’t you a servant to what’s his face?”

Merlin has to think for longer than he would like about his question. “Arthur?”

“Yeah that guy.”

Merlin nods, unsure why Danny is asking. “I serve him, yes.” he says slowly.

“Does that mean you have to do chores?” Merlin nods again. “Won’t he be angry that you’re coming home having done none of them?”

Merlin hadn’t thought of that. He could claim that he was out gathering herbs for Gaius, but that only worked so many times before Arthur caught on. Arthur would be angry, now that he thought about it. 

But he also knew that Arthur thinks of him as a _friend_ before a servant. 

“He’s not going to do much more than give me more work tomorrow.” Merlin admits. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”

Danny just lets out a small hum in response. “Is he….a good person?”

Merlin thinks about Arthur. The times when he was yelled at for not doing a good job. The times when Arthur hadn’t believed him when he told him something was dangerous. Even the time they met was when Arthur was being a prat to someone else and Merlin stepped in.

But then he thinks about the times they enjoy being with each other. Times when it didn’t matter if Arthur was a prince and Merlin was a serving boy. They acted like brothers sometimes. And he enjoyed those times more than anything.

“He is.” Merlin settles on. “And he’ll be an even greater king someday.”

Danny remains quiet for a while, unresponsive save for times when there were things in their path. Merlin let it happen, aware that sometimes it was best to let people deal with their thoughts.

They settle into a comfortable silence between the two of them until they reach the walls of Camelot, lit by lanterns burning brightly with flames. The empty town was far from silent, but it was still quieter than it normally was. 

Merlin had his fair share of sneaking out at night, but he never realized how odd it was to hear such absence of noise from a town that seemingly never sleeps.

As they grew closer to Gaius’s house, the cheers and shouts from the nearby tavern grew louder. Merlin had hoped to pass by without so much of a fuss, but it seemed impossible when one of the knights, Leon, stumbled out of the door.

“Merlin!” he shouted. Leon shot an arm up and waved for the two of them to come over. Danny stepped forward curiously and Merlin had no choice but to follow. He was far from happy about it, though.

But what scared him was that there was still blood on both his and Danny’s clothes from when Danny went, for lack of a better word, scary. They might have been healed, but the blood stuck around. He only hoped the tavern goers were too drunk to notice.

The inside of the tavern was the same as it usually was, save for a few familiar faces. Leon, who had escorted them in, Gwaine, and Percival. There were more knights at other tables, but the one Leon had them sit at just had those three. They sat down next to each other, with the 3 knights on the opposite side of the table.

Gwaine already had half a pint clutched tightly in his hand. He scanned the newcomer up and down, then turned his attention to Merlin.

“Got yourself another one, huh?” he taunts. “What trouble did you get into this time?”

“I think he’s more than just another friend, Gwaine.” Leon says before Merlin can answer. He takes a sip on his own drink, swaying just slightly to the right.

“Think so?” Gwaine responded. He took another look at how close the two of them were sitting. Merlin suddenly became very aware of how strange it was for two boys to be out in the woods at night for hours at a time.

“This is my _friend_ Danny.” he insists before this could go any further. “And he’s new in town.”

“Ah, a merchant’s son, I presume?” Gwaine asks, letting it be for now. He chugs the last of his mug down and lets out a long drunken sigh when he finishes it.

Danny opens his mouth to speak, but Merlin quickly cuts off whatever inane excuse or story he was about to make up.

“Yes! Merchant’s son!” he says loudly, so that there were no more rumors about Merlin’s new ‘friend’. A glance around the bar indicates that the other drunken harlots accepted his story.

“Travelling, actually. Just got in town…” he trails off, pointedly looking at Danny for help.

“Two days ago!” Danny fills in just as loudly. Seems he can keep up in conversation. Merlin would have to keep that in mind for any wild adventures he might get dragged into.

“Yes!” Merlin continues. “We met when I was in the market getting-”

“Breakfast! For Gaius.” Danny chirps in. “You might have seen us there this morning.”

Merlin was genuinely proud of him for sticking to partial truths. Seems like fast thinking came naturally to him. Though with his improvised fighting skills, he really shouldn’t be surprised.

“I might have. Though truth be told, I was also drunk this morning!” Gwaine laughs jovially. He lifts his mug, shouting at the bartender to get him another. He gets a slap in the head from Percival.

“And that’s exactly why Arthur used you as target practice during training today.” Percival takes a modest sip from his own mug. “He’ll do it again tomorrow if you’re not careful.” 

“Enough of that nonsense” Gwaine ignores him, finally receiving a refill on his drink and a seperate mug of fresh alcohol from the bartender. He slams it in front of Danny, startling both him and Merlin. “I want to see this lad drink.”

Merlin intervenes before Danny can agree. “He has plans tomorrow. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Oh come on, what’s a little bit gonna do?” Gwaine takes a long, unhealthy sip from his own mug. “One drink and a skinny boy like that is out.”

Danny’s eyes grow wide. Merlin has to hold back on giving Gwaine a piece of his mind when Danny wraps his fingers around the handle.

“You don’t have to…” Merlin tries, though he knows Danny is long gone. He leans into his seat, willing the night of torture to be over already. Danny takes a careful sip at first. He hums once, then takes another sip.

“Not bad.” he decrees, tipping the rest of the contents into his mouth. While Danny starts to chug his drink, Gwaine, along with some of the other knights, cheer. A ruckus rages from the table, the other knights taking Danny’s sudden interest in their favorite pastime as a challenge.

Merlin puts his head in his hands when the knights order more and more drinks for both themselves and Danny. At least they agreed to pay for him instead of having it come out of Merlin’s money.

And it was a good thing they did, because Merlin had no idea how much Danny could drink. He tried a variety of drinks, ranging in intensity, but he never seemed to get drunk.

Most of the other knights tapped out, being responsible adults who understood how much was enough. Too bad Gwaine and Danny didn’t understand that.

While Danny had a jolly good time enjoying tasty drinks, Gwaine got more and more drunk. By the time Merlin insisted they take their leave, he could barely lift a mug.

“Go home.” he ordered Gwaine, though he knew it wouldn’t be taken seriously. “You’ve had enough for the night.”

“Wha d’you knoow” he slurred, reaching out to take another sip. Merlin swiped it away before he could get to it.

“I _said_ you’ve had enough.” he said, slamming the mug on a table far enough away that he couldn’t reach it. He felt testy and slightly angry that he had to deal with grown men like he was their dad.

Luckily Percival, who seemed to be the only responsible one that stuck around, slipped an arm under Gwaine’s shoulder and lifted him up. He only staggered the tiniest bit as he led the drunken knight out of the bar.

“Goodnight, Danny!” he called over his shoulder, stumbling under the weight of his friend as he walked. “It’s been fun.”

“Bye!” Danny waves at the two of them, even after they had left. He kept going for a while, long enough that Merlin had to ask why.

“I dunno.” he says, bouncing on his feet. “Let’s go!”

Danny takes the lead out of the tavern, turning and walking in the wrong direction. Merlin has to pull him back, rather forcefully, to get him to turn around. Danny walks faster than Merlin, so he has to speed up just to match his pace.

Merlin pulls on Danny’s sleeve, stopping him in his tracks. “Ok hold on.”

“Huh?” Danny asks, fidgeting his hands. 

“Why are you walking so fast all of a sudden?” Merlin gestures to Danny, who is shifting in place so much he looks like he’s shaking. “Or what you’re doing now?”

Danny looks down and notices his tapping feet, shaking hands, and tries to stop all of it at once. He fails, needing an outlet, which he finds in bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet “I feel like I can run for hours right now.”

“I can see that.” Merlin deadpans. “But why?”

“Beats me.” Danny shrugs. “Sudden burst of energy I guess.”

He turns and resumes his quick pace down the dimly lit path towards Gaius’s house. Merlin leaves it be, following closely behind.

The second they open the door, of which Merlin presumed they would be met with an empty, dark room, they were instead met with an angry looking Gaius sitting on his workbench

“And where exactly have you two been all day?” he asks, surprisingly calm for how angry he looked.

“We were-”

“Is that blood?” Gaius says, rushing to stand up. He makes his way across the room to take a closer look at Merlin, whose shirt, around his right shoulder, is covered in dark red blood. He looks over at Danny and sees a bit of blood on him as well. “What happened?”

Merlin looks at Danny for advice, but finds him refusing to make eye contact. Merlin supposed that Danny wouldn’t be too keen on admitting it was him who hurt Merlin, even if it was Danny’s blood on his shirt.

“We fell down a hill in the forest.” he says slowly. “I healed us so we’re ok. And I don’t think anyone noticed.”

Gaius locks eyes with Merlin. He furrows his eyebrows in disapproval, but settles on a softer expression. “I was more worried that you were hurt than if anyone noticed.”

“We’re ok, Gaius. Nothing I couldn’t handle.” he reaffirms.

“Well I suppose it’s a bit late to wash your clothes.” He adjusts the scarf on Merlin’s neck. “We’ll see what we can do about that tomorrow.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure that out.” he says, letting loose a small smile. “It’s been a long day.”

“Yes I suppose you should be heading to bed. But you should know Arthur came looking for you today. I told him you were out gathering herbs for me.” Gaius smiles himself. “Be lucky I didn’t tell him you were at the tavern.”

“I suppose I owe you breakfast tomorrow, then.” he says, truly thankful that he had Gaius as a guardian.

“Goodnight you two.” Gaius says, walking slowly to his room. While Gaius headed off to bed, Merlin took the initiative to lead Danny to his own room. He seemed to have worked off some of the spontaneous energy by practically running home.

They change into night time clothes in near silence. Danny settles down on the floor mat with a small blanket in his lap. He fiddles with it while Merlin gets himself comfortable.

“You didn’t have to lie for me.” Danny says, interrupting Merlin when he tries to finally lay down and get some rest. Merlin sits back up and meets Danny’s eyes. 

“I said what I did for my own sake. I didn’t want Gaius to worry about me any more than he already does.”

“But I’m dangerous. He should know what happened.” Danny argues, desperate for Merlin to understand. “For his safety.”

“Danny, you did hurt me.” Merlin pauses when Danny tenses up. “But I forgave you. You are forgiven for what you did.”

“Still…” Danny says, playing with the edges of the blanket until Merlin was worried he would damage it.

“There’s no reason to dwell on the past because we cannot change it.” he says, quoting one of Gaius’s many pieces of wisdom. “So, for both of our sakes, don’t dwell on it.”

“You should get some rest.” Merlin says gently. He tries yet again to lie down for the sweet comfort of sleep. He knows Danny is still sitting up, but he tries to encourage him by putting out the candle on his table with magic.

It doesn’t work at first, he can tell. But eventually he hears Danny settling into his mat and curling up with the blanket. The gentle moonlight coming in from the window sends a wave of peace through his body.

He doesn’t know what will come tomorrow, but right now, he feels calm. Right now, he is truly glad to have made a friend. He is grateful for Danny being part of his life. And he is thankful for the times it feels like he has a family again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All comments are welcome and appreciated ♥♥♥


	8. A New Cycle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur hears about Danny thanks to a drunken rat named Gwaine. Meanwhile, Merlin gets to hear more tales from Danny's afterlife.

“You know you don’t have to follow me around all day.” Merlin said, as Danny rushed to catch up to him. Merlin had taken another sharp turn down the town road, which meant he almost lost a rather thin (not to mention _short_ ) Danny among the crowd yet again. “You could stay with Gaius and learn some herbology.”

“But that’s boooring.” Danny whined as he ran to catch up. “I wanna be with you where it’s fun!” 

“I’m only going to be doing chores, you know?” Merlin sent him a playful glare. “I skipped out yesterday to watch you play around and drink _all night_.”

Danny shrugged, dodging the townsfolk walking in the opposite direction. “You should have joined me.” he grumbled. “It would have been more fun.”

Merlin ignored him, entering the tower’s side entrance specifically for serving people without so much as a glance in his direction. He led the two of them up the spiral stairs, passing by a few people he knew. 

When Gwen, a good friend of his, passed by he waved to her. She was carrying a basket of clothes, so she couldn’t wave back, but she smiled at him instead. Merlin didn’t miss it when Danny turned around just to watch her descent down the stairs.

He slowed down, however, to let him keep up. Let the boy have a crush if he wanted; he hasn’t seen too many people in quite a while. Then again, Merlin wasn’t exactly sure how long ago Danny met his demise. He wasn’t about to ask.

“Keep up or I’ll leave you behind.” he said to Danny, who was struggling to climb the tall staircase at the same pace he was. “We’re almost there anyway.”

Sure enough, the top of the staircase came into view. Danny all but collapsed in exhaustion, panting hard on the top step. He placed a hand on the stone wall to steady himself.

“You need help?” he offered right as Danny’s knees gave out. Merlin instinctively grabbed his arm to keep him from falling down the stairs. It backfired when Danny jumped back and hovered a few feet above the staircase. 

“Don’t.” he said, clutching the spot on his arm where Merlin grabbed him. His fists were gripped tightly, worrying Merlin. “Don’t do that.” he ground out, through grit teeth.

Merlin held up his hands, keeping them pulled against his chest. Danny’s posture relaxed slowly and he lowered himself onto the stairs. It was a good thing the stairwell was empty. They would have to come up with something good to explain how a boy was floating _without_ using magic as part of it.

“Please don’t do that again…” he said, with a weak voice and his eyes down turned. His head was shaking slightly, as if a small part of him was still saying ‘no’.

Merlin let himself slide down the wall and sit on the top step, with his feet towards Danny, who was a few steps farther down. He didn't know what to do per say, but he knew his friend was hurting.

So he sat down, kept distance, and let Danny calm down on his own. It never felt like the right moment to apologize or ask if he was ok, so he let only the outside sounds coming in from the small windows fill the silence.

He had trouble holding back when he heard the sniffles, though. Merlin found comfort in soft touches, hugs, and the like. When Gaius hugged him after a long day, he felt safe. When Arthur messed up his hair when he was being snarky, he felt loved.

But Danny wasn’t like that.

Touches scared him, even if he enjoyed them most of the time. At least, that’s what Merlin hoped he got out of their interactions. Danny never reeled back from a gentle hand touching or tug of the arm before. 

He hoped it wasn’t because he was too scared to pull back.

As Danny’s sniffles died out, Merlin felt it right to ask, “Are you alright?”

He received a small nod in response. “Ok.” he said softly. “Will you be alright if I stand up now?”

Another small nod later and he stood up. He kept his movements slow and steady. He didn’t quite know what happened with Danny, or if he’d even want to talk about it, but he’d do his best to make sure it didn't happen again.

Danny took a bit more time to rise from sitting down. He placed both of his hands on the stone wall to keep balance this time. Merlin kept his hands to himself, even when Danny staggered a bit.

The only sounds that had been heard, those from outside the rectangular windows on the left side of the staircase, were quickly overturned by a loud ruckus coming from just outside the tower door.

It sounded like one of the knights to Merlin. Specifically, it sounded like Gwaine. It was similar to how loud he was last night, but without the slurring.

He turned and took a small step forward, silently urging Danny to do the same. If Gwaine was looking for the two of them, which he probably was, then Merlin would rather they look like they were just doing chores instead of having a mental breakdown.

Danny followed along, climbing up the last few steps he previously descended down. Merlin held the heavy wooden door open for him, letting Danny into the hallways first.

Immediately he heard a loud, but far away, “Danny!” come from down the hall. Closing the door behind him, Merlin turned to the right and saw Gwaine marching down the hall quickly.

“Danny! There you are.” he said. He turned to look behind him and saw Danny’s make-shift dad. “Ah, and Merlin as well. How lucky!”

“And why’s it lucky, Gwaine?” Merlin crossed his arms, only being half-playful. “Want to get us into even more trouble with Arthur this time?”

“Ehehe...ok so maybe drinking all night wasn’t the best of ideas.” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “And I _may_ have told Arthur about Danny this morning.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Merlin asked, feeling both confused and cautious. “What did you say?”

Gwaine shook his head and waved his hands back and forth. “No no, nothing bad. The opposite, actually.”

“Oh no.” he sent daggers in the knight’s direction. “Gwaine, what _exactly_ did you say?”

Gwaine shrugged and threw up his arms a bit, silently apologizing. “Long story short: Arthur wants to meet him.”

Merlin rubbed the bridge between his eyes and took in a deep breath. He glanced over at Danny. He didn’t look afraid of the prospect, as far as he could tell. He let out the deep breath.

“It’s going to have to happen at some point.” he said. He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could, hoping to bring comfort to his friend. “Is that ok with you, Danny?”

Danny’s eyes went back and forth between Merlin and Gwaine, who had a half-smile pasted on his face. Eventually, he nodded slowly.

“Yeah that’s ok.” he said, giving one more firm nod. “Like you said, it’ll happen anyway.”

Gwaine said nothing in response, and led them out of the castle with a bright smile. It reminded him of Danny whenever he told a silly joke and thought it was hilarious. He hated calling Gwaine, a grown man with many battle skills, cute, but it was partly true. 

Then again, he didn’t mind calling Danny cute, too. He was like a little kid that loved mischief and caused trouble wherever he went. But he was also the kid that everyone knew would find a nice, pretty girl and settle with her after leaving home.

It didn’t even have to be a girl.

Camelot was a lot of things, accepting being one of those. It was given knowledge that anyone could marry anyone. No one talked about it because there was nothing to talk about.

“Keep up, Merlin!” Danny yelled, halfway across the grassy terrain. He waved his arms wildly, as if he couldn’t see him and the rest of the knights across the clear field.

He waved back, even though Danny had already turned and sprinted closer to the knights, who were sword fighting each other. Practice as usual for them. Though as Merlin got closer he could see the enthralled look Danny was giving the display.

Merlin has been raised around sword fighting, archery, and combat skills for the later part of his life. If he were honest, he could point out a few mistakes they were making.

Percival left himself open on his left when striking. Leon was hesitant when fighting his brothers in arms and let the other men have the first go too often. And Gwaine was overconfident in his skills; He wasn’t watching his stance.

Not that Merlin was any better than them. He could fire a bow or swing a sword if needed, but there was no need most of the time.

He sped up his walk a bit to get to where Danny had stopped. Once he was standing comfortably next to him, he took a look at the sparring men.

Percival was taking a break by sitting down on the ground for a bit. Leon and Gwaine were crossing blades and striking up witty conversation. And Arthur was still suiting up off to the right. 

Merlin nodded his head in Arthur’s direction and Danny caught on. As they walked over Merlin called out “Finally figured out how to dress yourself, eh?”

Arthur, still adjusting his chainmail, turned to look at the two of them. His head was held high and his clothes were fit for royalty and royalty alone. If Merlin wasn’t so used to it, he’d be intimidated. He fixed his gaze onto Merlin, who felt incredibly confident looking at the stupid front Arthur was putting up.

He was always trying to intimidate Merlin in some way or another. Maybe he had convinced himself that if it happened, Merlin would be a better servant. It never worked, of course.

“No thanks to you being missing for two days.” Arthur gave Merlin’s shoulder a shove. “If this keeps up I might not even need a servant.”

He glanced over at Danny, who tilted his head when Arthur didn’t take his eyes off of him. “Danny, I presume?”

Danny nodded once and kept his head down, dropping it into a respectful bow “I am. It is nice to meet you, Prince Arthur.” he said. 

Merlin felt genuinely impressed by how formal Danny was acting. Usually he would say ‘Yup that’s me!’ and skip off to go play with the knights. Not that he had any sword training to play with, but it was a fun thought.

One look at Arthur, though, and he can tell even the crowned prince was impressed. Merlin had to admit, even those who worked for royalty were always intimidated by them, including his own friends. Whether it be a societal fearfulness or deeply rooted respect.

For once, a young boy who was meeting the man who was to be king was not afraid.

Arthur hummed lightly, softening his face. He looked up and down Danny, who still had his head bowed. He hummed again, more tuneful this time.

“If you have time to make friends then you should be working harder.” He turned back towards his sword, grabbing it by the hilt and hoisting it up his shoulder. “You can start with my living quarters.”

“Sure thing.” he waved off the idea as Arthur left to train. He’d do it, but he’d hate to do it alone. He nudged Danny in the arm. “You wanna help?”

Danny raised his head a little bit, checking if the prince was gone. When he saw no one in front of him he smiled and bounced on his feet, nodding feverishly. “I’d love to!”

Merlin couldn’t help but smile at the childish display. Again, he would use the word ‘cute’.

“We’re just going to be cleaning.” he stuck a finger at Danny’s chest. “No playing around this time.”

“Mhm, sure! No playing.” Danny tried to imitate a serious expression, but ended up looking even more goofy. Merlin chuckled when he tried different times to get it right.

It would go on forever if he let it, so he just started walking away towards the castle. Danny got the idea, tagging along by his side, sticking close in the tighter town spaces near shops.

Merlin led them the long way, avoiding the servant’s staircase, and instead in through the main gates. He had to keep reminding Danny to stay away from any more royalty, including a passing Morgana.

He saw the way he looked at her. It was the same way he looked at Arthur when he walked away: Amazement. Not the same as respect, mind you. Respect had a level of fear that came with it.

You respected your master because they were your teacher. Because they could ruin your life if they wanted.

You were amazed by a beautiful flower or strong sword because they bring you joy and hope.

Wonder comes from a place of vulnerability. 

When you look at something beautiful and allow your darker thoughts to drift to a happier place - that is comfort.

When you look at someone and allow yourself to feel weak for them - that is love.

That’s the way Danny sees everything. He feels before he thinks. If he feels happy, he’ll jump around and smile because he’s not afraid to express it.

If he feels scared, he gets quiet and curls in on himself because he trusts others - he trusts _Merlin_ \- enough to show what he’s feeling.

“Stop staring and start walking.” Merlin reminded him when he refused to move. “We’re almost there.”

“Well don’t leave me behind!” Danny said, snapping to focus and quickly catching up.

Merlin stopped sharply at a seemingly random door. Danny had to skid to a halt himself, nearly tripping in the process. He let out a small cry when he stumbled, but righted himself using a cheeky bit of levitation. Even though it was small, Merlin still caught.

“You should be careful about that.” he scolded. Danny had the common sense to look embarrassed.

Merlin pulled on the wood door handle leading into Arthur’s room with a nearly invisible smirk. Danny really was just a little kid with too much energy for such a tiny body.

Together they got to work on cleaning. Danny made the bed, which somehow only got messed up whenever Merlin was in trouble. While he did that, Merlin organized the wooden cupboard full of clothes standing against the wall nearest to the windows.

Merlin, to fill the silence, hummed an unfamiliar tune. It wasn’t from a song he’d heard long ago or a tune he heard as a baby from his mother. Nothing dramatic, as life rarely was. 

It was just a song he’d make up on the spot sometimes. It had no words, no instruments, and no ending, so long as he let it be that way.

The funny thing is, Danny started humming along after just a few notes. It was random, so he could only echo it, but he kept up.

Merlin had no qualms about his voice, but hearing Danny’s was like hearing an angel sing. It echoed the way a winding tunnel would. At some point Merlin stopped cleaning just to listen.

Danny kept humming when Merlin stopped. The tune changed into one he _had_ heard before. He heard a musician come into the great hall with a special instrument to play for the king one time, quite a while ago. Months, by this point.

It was a gigantic thing, taller than the tallest man he had ever seen. The bottom part of her light green dress flowered over onto it. It towered over her as she sat down, wispy golden hair flowing in the gentle draft. She plucked the thin strings and the most pleasant sound played through the hall.

He couldn’t describe it, but he could remember how he felt. He felt comforted, warm, and safe. She played for such a short time, even though in reality it was probably straining to do so for that long.

Hearing Danny hum, which had now turned into airy singing, was like feeling all that again. He hummed a low note, holding it for a few seconds longer. When the note ended, he stopped and a silence fell between the two of them.

“Oh.” was all Merlin could say. 

Danny just smiled. “I’ve been practicing.” 

“I could tell.”

“Did you like it?”

Merlin nodded, eyes wide. “It was beautiful.”

Danny pressed a crease on the sheets into the bed. He smoothed it over, deeming it finished. “I used to sing to the animals. In the forest.”

Merlin wasn’t sure what to feel. Danny was talking about his time as a spirit and was doing it by himself. Progress, for certain, but he didn’t want to press. He gave an affirmative nod - a gesture that he was listening.

“There was a baby deer I watched grow up. She wasn’t afraid of me like so many other animals.” Danny took a seat on the bed, somehow managing not to wrinkle it with how little he weighed. “I named her Samantha.”

He laughed gently. “She never responded to it, but I thought it was a cute name.”

“It is a cute name. Why’d you pick it?” Merlin asked, carefully choosing his words. He walked over to the bed, closing the gap between him and Danny.

“I dunno. It just felt right.” Danny said. “...I used to stargaze too.”

“Did you like it?” Merlin asked slowly, hoping to keep Danny on the lighter side of his afterlife. He really did want to learn more about his friend, but didn’t want to force him into it either.

“I know where every single star is and what their names are. I know how many phases there are in the moon cycle. And I’ve seen a few planets on clearer nights.” he said, startling Merlin with how much this boy really knew about space. 

He didn’t know how he knew the names of the stars, but it could just very well be something he picked up before he died. Plenty of children know how to navigate using stars because of their parents.

He was finally learning something about his friend - something nice. Merlin liked going on walks in the forest, taking the time to really look up for once. He took the seat next to Danny, not avoiding messing up the bed like he had.

“We could go out together.” he offered. “Watch the stars tonight.”

Danny's mouth crept up into a full-blown smile. “That sounds nice”. 

Danny reached out his left hand and rested it on top of the hand Merlin had placed on the bed to keep himself up. Danny's smile softened into a more peaceful expression.

Merlin had to hold back from giggling like a little kid (or like Danny). He felt so happy that Danny reciprocated his gentle touches. It meant that he wasn’t making him uncomfortable when he did that. 

He couldn’t describe the amount of relief that fell out of him with one simple hand touch.

A sigh flew out of his mouth before he could control it. As much as Danny was like watching a little kid run around playing all day, he was so incredibly lucky to have met him.

“We should probably go back to see Arthur.” Merlin said to Danny, who hadn’t taken his hand off of him quite yet. “He probably wants to meet you properly.”

Danny, still locking eyes with him, smiled. “Yeah, and the knights too. They probably want to meet me when they’re not drunk.”

“You know I hadn’t thought about that. But you’re absolutely right.” He let himself smile just a bit. “They might want to fight you for out-drinking them.”

“And when you say ‘they’ you mean ‘Gwaine’, right?” Danny laughed. “I totally beat him last night.”

“Considering he could barely walk, I’m going to assume yes.”

Danny’s hold on Merlin’s hand tightened as he stood up. He brushed himself off with one hand, keeping the other interlocked with Merlin’s. Merlin said nothing of it, only mimicking Danny as he stood up and walked to the door.

“Shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love getting comments! Any kind is cool, whether it be predictions, parts you loved, or even just a <3!
> 
> Side note: I will probably be updating slower in the coming chapters. I just got a job :)


	9. Flashbacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny catches wind that Gwaine wants to duel him. He's not about to say no.

Danny hopped down the stairs two at a time, using a bit of levitation to catch himself when he stumbled or slipped. Merlin had warned him, sure, but he also said that hardly anyone used the stairs, so it would be fine.

He even did the last three at once, just to show off. Merlin chuckled and mumbled “Show off.” 

Danny caught it, of course, but he let it slip. He was in a good mood. The almost setting sun was shining outside as they walked towards the training grounds, putting a smile on his face.

“Do you know how to swordfight?” Merlin asks, breaking up Danny’s thoughts.

“Probably!”

Merlin raises an eyebrow. “You mean you don’t know?”

“Pretty sure I’ve held one before at least.” Danny shrugged. “Good enough?”

From the distance he heard Gwaine shout out to them. Merlin was saying something, as if he didn’t hear him. Danny waved a hand at the four men standing a ways away.

Danny ran up to them, with Merlin tagging along behind him, panting. Danny wasn’t tired in the slightest.

“Ah, Danny and Merlin! How good to see you again.” Gwaine greeted, putting a glove on his right hand. The other men were wearing the same kind, but were also already prepared to train with each other, unlike Gwaine.

“Hiya, Gwaine!” Danny bounced on his toes. “Heard you wanted to fight me.” 

“Indeed I did.” Gwaine smirked, snapping on his other glove. “Can’t let you beat me in swordfighting now that you’ve proven you can handle yourself in a tavern.”

The other men, who Danny had seen with Gwaine before, stood farther away to watch them. Gwaine took Leon’s sword out of his hands and gave it to Danny. Leon quickly silenced any objections he would have had when Danny grabbed the hilt with confidence.

Instinctively he got lower to the ground, centering his balance. Danny feels like he’d learned this somewhere before, but can’t remember where.

Gwaine did the same, adjusting the grip on his sword. But he noticed that Gwaine’s stance didn’t change. It looked unsteady, just as Merlin had pointed out. “Ready?”

Danny nodded, smirking. He may not win, but it’ll be funny when he trips Gwaine in front of the other knights. He just had to wait for him to make the first move.

Gwaine rushed forwards, quickly closing the gap between them. He swung his sword up, preparing to strike down hard.

And suddenly Danny wasn’t fighting Gwaine. 

He was back in his town, sword in hand. He could feel the faint metallic taste stuck on his tongue. He had to be more careful. The man in front of him was trying to take the children. He couldn’t let that happen. 

He swung again, feeling the heavy weight of the sword - the one he stole from his father just last night - wear out his arms with each swing. He couldn’t keep this up for long.

He sent a quick glare towards the other men. The one’s trying to get the jump on him. Or worse, take his brothers and sisters like they had said they were going to when they rode into town this morning.

He yelled a threat at them. A random garble of angry words to keep them in place and distracted long enough for more of the children to sneak into the forest, just like they had planned. They all had been taught to survive in the forest from day one of the raids. They would be ok. He hoped.

He ducked under another swing from the man he was still fighting. He bit down on his tongue to keep himself from saying something when one of the littler kids fell down. 

“I won’t let you win!” he shouted, hoping, _praying_ , that it was loud enough to cover up the sounds of the kid crying over her split knee. One of the others picked her up, covered her mouth, and ran deeper, out of sight. Behind the wall of foggy darkness that surrounded the area.

Why was there no sky when he looked up?

The man threw down his sword, sticking it in the ground. It wobbled back and forth as it settled, half sheathed in the earth.

“You think you can win against me?” he said, through a low growl, followed by a louder snarl, like a rabid dog. For some reason the words didn’t match up with his lips.

Danny knew the answer; He _wasn’t_ going to win. He was going to die.

The man closed the distance before Danny could even blink. Suddenly he was being grabbed tightly by his arm. The panic quickly took over. It didn’t matter that he had a sword in his hands. He was shaking too much to use it anyway.

“You think-” the man began, pulling on him.

Danny bit down on the man’s hand. As hard as he could. The man tried to reel back, but Danny clung on, clamping down harder. 

They never tell you what human bones and skin feel like underneath your teeth. It hurt to keep biting, even as the man slapped his face and punched him in the gut, but he kept it up. He never felt any pain, anyway.

“Danny!” he heard. But not from the man. His mouth didn’t move the same, just yelled more obscenities at him. It didn't match up with the voice at all.

“Danny, calm down!” he heard again. It sounded younger this time. Not as young as the children…

_The children._

Still unwanning his grip, he frantically looked to the forest. Had they all escaped safely? He hoped to god they hadn’t been captured. 

But there were no children. There was no forest. Just a huge mass of darkness that only deepened when he blinked. 

There was no man in front of him. There were no other raiders behind him. It was quiet all around.

But the sword in his arms was real. And the hand in his mouth was real. There was a glove in between his teeth and it, though.

“Danny, you have to calm down.” he heard. He blinked twice and saw light beyond the darkness that once was trees. 

He saw...someone. A young boy with a blue scarf and dark brown hair, holding out his hands, but not touching him.

_Merlin._

“M-Merlin…?” he tried. It sounded right, but the name felt strange. Like it was in a different language.

“Yes. Yes that’s right.” he nodded slowly and pointed to his chest. “I’m Merlin.”

“What’s….what just?” He tried again. The words felt less strange. The world around faded back in. When had it left? He was in the middle of a grassy field. The sun poured down on his skin, warming him back up from the icy chill encompassing him. The sky was a mixed coloring of orange and light red, littered with fluffy clouds. A setting sunset perfect for a warm spring afternoon.

There were people, men just older than him, standing behind Merlin. He knew them.

The tall, black haired one in front of him was Gwaine. He loosened the grip his teeth had on the hand. Gwaine pulled back, stepping a few feet away and gently rubbing his gloved hand, indented slightly with teeth marks.

The one next to Gwaine was Percival. And Elyan. And Leon. When had he forgotten their names?

He blinked, clearing up the fog that hazed his head. He was training, _play fighting_ with Gwaine. He couldn’t remember what happened after the first swing, but he could guess.

“Sorry…” he mumbled, letting go of the sword that he was once holding onto so tightly. It fell to the ground, making hardly a sound. He couldn’t bear to look at anyone but his friend.

“It’s ok.” Merlin filled in when no one said anything. He looked around at the group of people. “We’re all ok, right?”

“A bit roughed up, but I am unharmed.” Gwaine said, quickly following up. Danny heard the way Gwaine tried smiling at him. “You gave us quite the scare, there, Danny.”

Danny took a deep breath, letting the feelings of the world soak in. There were no crying children. There was no smell of blood coming from the wounds of his family. His arms were not weighed down with chains.

He finally looked all around him. No trees nearby, just grass that sometimes had small hills in it. He was not surrounded by raiders. He had no children to protect with his life. Just friends of Merlin’s. 

He let out the breath, finally, as it was burning his lungs. 

“Sorry about hurting you.” he turned to Gwaine. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Do not worry yourself too much.” he said back, softly. “I have had many friends experience the same thing after years of combat.”

“You have?” Danny asked. The thought that other people had to go through the same thing made his stomach churn, but he felt curious nonetheless.

Gwaine held up a hand and shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s not my story to tell. Just know that all is forgiven. Though, I suppose…”

“Gwaine.” Merlin interrupted, making his way back into conversation. “Don’t start anything.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. But…” He gestured towards Danny. “We could always use another pair of eyes during our hunting trips, right men?

Leon was the first to nod in agreement. “Yes, I suppose.”

Elyan nodded next, adding on “And another man to hunt, as well.”

“What are you getting at, Gwaine?” asked Percival, hesitant to say the least. Danny always thought he was the most responsible one, given that he was the one to carry Gwaine out of the bar when he was too drunk to walk. 

“We're going hunting tonight.” he says, turning back to Danny. ”Would you like to come with us?”

Danny wants to say yes. To forget all about whatever just happened and have fun with the knights. He’s never hunted before, at least he thinks so. It could be fun. 

“I can’t. Not tonight.” he says, giving them a lopsided smile. It felt odd, but not forced. 

Gwaine looked incredibly disappointed. Not the fake kind, where it’s meant to make you feel back. ‘Manipulative’, he thinks Gaius once said the word was.

“I already have plans with Merlin.” he defends himself with. He can finally let out a real, comfortable smile. “He’s taking me stargazing.”

“And if we want to get to that tonight, we have to go.” Merlin said, shoving Gwaine aside to get to Danny better. “I need to do chores or Arthur will have my head.”

“Yes, yes, his highness is very tempermental with you.” Gwaine nodded, holding back a laugh. “You boys better get going, then. Lest your date be ruined.”

“It’s not a date!” Merlin yelled over his shoulder as he walked away towards the castle. Danny quickly followed suit, running to catch up. He heard laughter behind him from the knights, along with hushed whispers, but he ignored it.

Merlin led the two of them back up the spiral staircase yet again, but didn’t speak to Danny the way up. He was probably just tired, Danny reasoned.

But what if he was angry? What if Danny really let him down by lashing out? What if he hurt him again? He really was a monster. He couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“Hey I’m really sorry about whatever I did.” he said, pausing in the hallway. “And I know you’re angry at me but I just really had to say sorry. So...it’s ok if you hate me.”

“What?” Merlin stopped in his tracks and whipped his head back around to look at him. “I don’t hate you. What makes you say that?”

“I-I don’t know.” he admitted. What had made him think that? Being quiet for a minute or two meant nothing. “I just…” he trailed off.

“I’m not angry with you.” Merlin says, stepping closer. The gap between them was slight, but not overbearing. “I was worried that you needed some space”

What was wrong with him, really? Lashing out at friends? Turning them down? This isn’t the kind of person he is.

“If you’d like I can make fun of you like I do Arthur?” 

It was Danny’s turn to feel confused. “What?”

“I could call you a prat and punch you in the arm.” Merlin threw up his arms and shrugged. “Always cheers Arthur up.”

Danny let out a tiny huff, which turned into a laugh. “I don’t think anyone would like that.”

“We could try, just in case?” Merlin smiled, leaning in close to whisper. “ _Or_ we could go out and have a snowball fight?”

“It’s spring how would we-?” Then it hit him. He had ice powers. “Oh right.”

“One fight, just to get even for the last time.” Merlin said. “Then we can talk about the stars all you want.”

_The stars._

He loved the stars. Even more than the moon. He memorized all of them, along with the children, in case he ever got lost. He could talk about them for hours. How they connected to each other. What each of them meant. Which one’s led home.

“Is that a ‘yes’? Merlin asked, still smiling.

Danny couldn’t help but smile back. Through the small windows he could see the sun setting. It would be the perfect night to go out.

Danny hadn’t told Merlin yet, but he could fly. Actually, genuinely, _fly_. And he could make Merlin fly, too. They could soar the skies under the beautifully bright moon and talk about the stars all night long.

Danny beamed at the thought. “A million times over, yes!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the title is different! I didn't feel like the original captured what this fic is about. Hopefully this suits it better, but feel free to let me know what you think!
> 
> As always, I _love_ getting comments! All comments are welcome as well!


	10. Stargazing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin keeps his promise to take Danny stargazing. He just didn't expect what would happened at the end of the night.

“Ready?” Danny held out his hand. His glow as Phantom was as bright as ever. Not as blinding as when they first met, but bright enough to make Merlin squint just slightly.

“As I’ll ever be.” Merlin gulped. He took Danny’s hand hesitantly. He said he’d go stargazing, but _flying_ while stargazing was another thing entirely. 

Danny squeezed his hand once, a gentle warning. Just then, Merlin’s feet were lifted off the ground. He clenched his hands, including the one in Danny’s, to keep them from flailing for grip, but couldn’t help the shakiness that shook his body when Danny took him higher.

“S-so which s-star is that?” he choked out to Danny, trying to ignore the sickening feeling in his gut when he looked down. He pointed at a random part of the sky, hoping Danny would take the hint.

Danny gave a knowing nod, settling them both mid-air in one spot. He pointed just slightly to the left of where Merlin gestured. “Well that one is Caryel’s star. That’s the first one we learned about cause it’s super close to...home.”

Danny paused, but shook himself off quickly, gripping Merlin’s hand tighter for just a split second.

He pointed to the far right of Merlin’s vision. “That one is the beginning of the Little Dipper. The one’s next to it form a little line down and to the right."

Merlin could almost see it, though not quite. The stars were bright, sure, but there were so _many_ of them. He tried to see what Danny saw, but had never really learned how to tell the difference between them.

“That one is the Methuselah star.” Danny pointed at another seemingly random part of the skyline. “It looks light blue during the full moon. And it’s super bright.”

“W-which one is your favorite?” Merlin asked, still trying to calm the nervous tremors. Danny said he knew a lot about the stars, and he was clearly not bluffing.

Danny scrunched up his face. He tilted his head back and forth, like he was wavering between options. “I dunno…” he said. “Can’t I just say I like the whole galaxy?”

“The what?”

“The galaxy? The one we’re in _right now_?”

Merlin snorted. “Oh great bearer of information. Grace me with your wisdom.” he said with as much sarcasm as he could.

“Oh, why thank you!” Danny smiled cheekily. “I was about to.” 

He gestured to the whole of the night sky using his free hand. “ _All_ of this. _All_ these stars are in the same galaxy. It’s called the Milky Way Galaxy.”

“Why is it called that?” Merlin titled his head to the side. “Not to discredit whoever came up with the name, but it’s a bit….odd.”

“I…” Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “don’t actually know.”

“You don’t?”

“I...don’t know how I learned any of this.”

Danny shifted his gaze a bit higher into the sky. His eyes were almost twinkling along with the stars. And the miniature night sky of tiny freckles across his cheeks almost looked like a galaxy itself. 

He sighed lightly, looking back to Merlin. “I mean, I know that I learned how to travel by stars because of my parents, but the rest is a blur.”

The huge lightning strike stamped across the starry sky was enough to make Merlin jump. He pressed at his chest, willing his heart to calm down. His breathing got less shaky the more the pound of the thunder dulled down.

“Don’t like storms?” Danny squeezed his hand lightly. Merlin shook his head, still trying to shake off the sudden scare, just in time for another strike, which wracked his body with another round of tremors.

“Let’s go home.” Danny said softly. 

That had been the plan, at least. When the light rain and interspersed lightning strikes turned into a torrential downpour, they ran for cover. 

Danny hadn’t felt safe flying in the storm, and Merlin agreed, so they were stuck trudging through the mud and around trees looking for safety. 

Safety ended up being a nearby cave Danny had spotted on their way into the woods. Danny changed back into his other form and they shook off the water they had been drenched in when they were safely inside. They decided to walk farther in, just in case. No one wanted a stray gust of rainy wind to hit them.

There were lanterns hung on the walls. This was most likely a mining cave, going by the carved out look to it. It was stripped of any materials useful for forging weapons. Not that Merlin knew too much about that. Being limited by sight got quickly tiresome, though, so he used a bit of magic to light the lanterns. Just a couple of them - enough to brighten up the room a bit.

But a better look gave away some signs that this had been long abandoned. The walls were left a dulled down grey from the years of unuse. The ceiling supports - which were just a few planks of rotting wood - were tipping into a downward arch. It looked like it was about to collapse if they weren’t careful.

“Bad night to go for a stroll, I guess.” Danny joked, resting his back against the damp wall. He was shaking just as hard as Merlin.

“Don’t like storms, either?” Merlin asked, when he noticed Danny’s similar discomfort by the booming thunder. The flickering light gave off a bit of warmth, which both boys were grateful for.

“Never have been.” his shoulders lifted into a small shrug. “Not sure why.”

“You know, it’s said that if you’re scared of something, it’s how you died in a former life.” Merlin chuckled, though it sounded more dreary than before. “Guess we can rule that out for you, though.”

Danny chuckled along with him. He didn’t seem to mind Merlin mentioning his death. “You’re not wrong. Not a fan of superstitions anyway.”

“Oh come now, everyone has at least one.” Merlin said. He offered “Gaius’s is that all his herbs have to be organized at all times.”

“That’s not that bad.”

“Not until a certain clumsy apprentice knocks everything over it isn’t.” he sighed and slid down the rocky side of the cave, taking a seat next to Danny. “He gets so mad when I do that...”

“Not… _mad_ mad, right?” Danny asked, hesitantly. “He wouldn’t...do anything to you….would he?”

“Definitely not.” Merlin replied easily. He never thought Gaius could hurt anyone. Especially not him. “He’s far from a doddery old man, but he is the peaceful sort.” 

Danny let out a sigh of relief. It made Merlin wish whoever had hurt this poor boy would show his face. Maybe being covered in boils and braying like a donkey for the rest of his life would make him see the error of his ways.

“Well, well. What have we here?”

Merlin froze. He knew that voice all too well. So did Danny, going by his calm, resting position being taken over by a stiff, cautious one.

“Thought we’d find you boys up to something tonight.” 

Gwaine stepped into the cave light, one hand on his hip. Percival and Leon, both just as soaking wet as him, followed just behind him. They weren’t wearing their usual chainmail, just regular townsfolk clothes. If asked, Danny would claim it was the fancier sort, compared to Merlin’s clothes.

“This was a terrible idea, Gwaine.” Leon punched Gwaine in the arm, sending him farther into the cave. “You said it wouldn’t storm tonight.”

“I’m not infallible, you know.” Gwaine smiled brightly. His hair dripped with water every time he moved. "Just a bit of a troublemaker”

“I had no part in this, I’ll have you know.” Percival told Merlin, sounding as tired as he looked, nevermind being soaking wet. “I had to make sure they weren’t going to get themselves killed while spying on you two.”

“We’re not spying.” Gwaine argued back. He leaned into the wall opposite to Danny and Merlin. Leon and Percival mirrored his action, sliding down to sit when he did. “Just a bit of...information gathering.”

Merlin suddenly counted himself lucky they weren’t looking to the sky tonight. They would have seen a brightly glowing Danny and Merlin flying off in the sky, chattering about the stars.

Not that he didn’t enjoy their time together. 

“That’s exactly what spying is, you imbecile.” Leon joked, sounding only half serious. Merlin knows he doesn’t actually think Gwaine is an imbecile, but he is right to be angry.

“What exactly did you think we were ‘up to’?” Merlin demanded, though he’s not sure he wants to know the answer. A hard thunder strike coming from close by almost scared Merlin into jumping, but he was too tense to do so.

“Two boys, alone at night, going ‘stargazing’?” Gwaine shrugged. “Sounds suspicious, honestly. I had to follow you.”

“How did you find us when the storm started?” Danny said, just as Merlin was about to make a snarky remark. “It’s pitch black out there.”

Both of the other knights immediately look to Percival. 

“Oh...” Danny says, following their gaze. Percival had the sense to look ashamed.

The other knights fell quiet, save for a whisper or two to each other. Merlin grew irritated when he imagined what would have happened if they _had_ seen Danny use his powers. He trusted them with his life, which they have saved before, but with Danny’s? 

The more they whispered to each other about how ‘suspicious’ the two of them were, the less he trusted them.

“If you’re going to say something, then say it.” he ground out, clenching his fists tightly. This was getting more and more irritating.

“Leon was just saying how you two would make a good couple, sitting so close.” Gwaine joked loudy, echoing down the cave. The rumble of pebbles that was being roused not too far away, whether Merlin knew it or not, was a warning sign.

“Alright that’s enough.” he said, leaving no room for argument. The cave walls they were all leaning on shook as Merlin spoke.

Gwaine wasn’t one to back down, though. He laughed and nudged Percival. “No, really, don’t you boys think so?”

“Enough!” Merlin shouted. The rumble from down the cave quickly got closer. Cracks began to form just above their heads, though only Merlin knew why.

His magic was unstable as it was, nevermind when his emotions got out of hand. It would be his fault entirely when the ruptures on the already rotting wood had caused them to collapse. 

And collapse they did.

When the support system of planks fell down, it took the entire opening of the cave with it. The sound of collapsing rocks echoed down the tunnel as it fell.

Merlin swears he heard Gwaine shout something, but all he could think about was how he may have just killed all of them.

When the dust settled, the three knights were standing, watching the last pebbles tumble down the mound of stone that was now covering their only way out.

The cloud of dust wafted in their direction, causing Merlin - along with everyone else - to cough wildly. The dust flew down the cave as a wind made its way through the small opening at the top of the cave-in.

“Oh no.” was all Percival, the first one to speak, said.

“Well…” Danny says next. “At least we’re out of the rain.”

Merlin admired him for trying to cheer everyone up. He wished he had the same calmness at the moment. All he was doing was trying not to panic harder than he already was.

They were going to die in this cave. Gwaine was not someone who planned ahead when he was trying to prove a point. There was no way he told anyone about him going out this late at night.

“I’m regretting not eating dinner.” Gwaine said quietly. A chorus of agreement came from the other two knights. As if that mattered anymore to Merlin. As far as he was concerned, they were still going to die.

But, even if he was feeling this way, he had to stay calm. He’d been through much worse scenarios. He always found a way out. Albeit, he had no wise dragon in an underground cavern or friendly Gaius to guide him. He took a deep breath. He could do this.

Danny, who had stood up at some point - maybe when Merlin had lost all connection to the world - leaned back down to whisper “You alright?”

“I think so,” he said slowly. “At least I am now.”

He noticed the knights were standing near the cave entrance, having not noticed Merlin’s dilema. Taunting him and Danny was suddenly the least of everyone’s worries.

Leon was the first to trudge back over to the wall, which now had a million cracks in it, and sit down. Danny was the next, taking back the seat next to Merlin. Gwaine came after him. And Percival was the last.

“We’ll find a way out.” Merlin tells them. He hated how quiet they were, as opposed to their usual ruckus. “I’m sure of it.”

He looked over to Danny, who was also seeming a bit out of it. His head was down and he was tapping a steady beat on the cave floor. Like he was contemplating something.

Merlin knew one way to get them out.

But it would mean that Danny had to sacrifice everything. 

Including Merlin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always: All comments are welcome and appreciated! Even just a <3 as an extra kudo :)


	11. Sunset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cave-in was as good of a place for bonding as anywhere else. Merlin was trying to look on the bright side. But Danny has a secret that needs to be revealed before they can escape.

Merlin never thought he would see the day where he starved.

“I’m really regretting not eating dinner.” Gwaine whines for what felt like the hundredth time.

Apparently, the knights had never thought they would see the day they starved, either. Gwaine was just the one to be vocal about it. Merlin would normally be annoyed at his constant complaining, but he was feeling the same way.

He knew starvation was a long ways away. Gaius taught him that much. For survival, he supposed. If anything, they wouldn’t survive without water for more than a few days. He didn’t know the word for that, but he could only imagine how it felt.

Though, as the hours passed and the moon grew brighter, he was starting to get the idea.

Eventually Gwaine settled for talking to the other knights to distract himself. It was obvious that that was what he was doing. At least to Merlin. If Danny caught on, he didn’t say anything.

Though, now that Merlin thought about it, Danny had been acting weird since Gwaine and him fought. He didn’t smile as much or use his powers as often. Even as he was sitting next to him, both leaned up against the jagged walls, he was unusually quiet.

He could have been feeling the effects or going without water, but Merlin got the feeling that wasn’t the case.

“Something’s off about that boy.” Merlin heard come from the other side of the cave. Far enough away to be nearly unheard, but not quite silent. Seems someone had similar thoughts.

“Quite so.” Merlin caught Leon saying as he leaned towards Gwaine. Again, nearly silent, but not quite enough for Merlin (and Danny, presumably) to hear.

“He seems in rather good condition, though we are not.” Percival noted, though he sounded more casual than the others. At least he had the confidence to say what was on his mind instead of hurling vague accusations like it felt the other two were doing.

“Even Merlin is struggling.” Leon pointed out.

True, he hadn’t been feeling too well, but as he looked to the side, Danny looked just as bad. Not physically - he seemed just as well as he was before they left - but he looked pensive. Maybe he was dealing with his pain inwardly. Though, that wasn’t too in character of him.

Indecisive, he leans in and asks “How are you feeling?”

Danny glances up to the knights and catches their eyes. They immediately look away. Gwaine to the others and the others to a random part of the cave wall far away from Danny. Merlin felt some relief that they knew they were being too presumptuous again.

“I’m doing ok.” Danny said, tilting his head to look at him from the side. He really did _look_ ok, but it was good to know he was just fine. Though, maybe it was a bit more alarming that he was. Merlin certainly felt the effects of being in a damp, barely lit cave for hours upon hours with only each other as company.

“Actually, I feel just fine. I’m not hungry or anything.” Danny admitted, seemingly feeling just as confused. He nodded towards the knights. “Or sleepy.”

The knights, now that he noticed, were looking tired. More tired than he’s ever seen them being. He’s never seen them in anything but broad daylight - he hadn’t had the privilege of coming on their occasional night time hunting trips. Arthur said he’d have to prove he’s good at polishing boots before he’d trust him to watch their backs. Even without that perspective, he could tell.

They were leaning up against the wall, slightly against each other as well. Their eyes were only barely open. Merlin would have found the sight of grown, strong men being sleepy funny if only he wasn’t also growing tired.

But he couldn’t sleep now. 

Thinking about what Danny said felt...wrong, if he were to pick a word. Now that he thought about it, he’s only offered food once. And never water. 

Danny never said anything about it. He never expressed discomfort or complained about being hungry before. At least, he can’t think of a time.

“Maybe…” Merlin felt around for the right words in his head. “Maybe you don’t have to eat anymore.”

“What?” Danny asked immediately, confused. “Of course I do.”

“No, think about it, really.” He said, trying to be quiet. “Have you been hungry at all since you came out of the forest? Thirsty? Or even tired?”

Danny looked pensive once more, going quiet. He opens his mouth a few times like he’s about to say something, but snaps it shut before any words come out.

Merlin waits patiently for him to say something, but when he doesn’t for an uncomfortably long time he suggests “What if, because you’re not really alive, you don’t have to do any of that?”

“But...I _have_ slept before.” Danny offers, sounding a bit desperate. “You were there, you saw me.”

“But what if you only slept _because_ I was there.” Merlin says back, still feeling unconfident, but unwilling to ignore the gut feeling he had any longer. “What if you just copied me?”

“But- but I have eaten food, too.” he speaks once more, sounding more like a plea than a plausible argument. “And I drank with the knights at the tavern.”

And, yes, Merlin saw him eat and drink once or twice. But both times, he was acting hyperactive afterwards. It seemed weird at the time, but it was nothing more than a passing feeling. He went back to normal after some time, so it wasn’t an issue. But the fact that it happened more than once was beginning to feel even more odd.

“But what if- what if you just get hyper from it?” he says, feeling just a bit more confident in his theory. “Maybe it just gets converted into energy right away.”

“No. No it can’t be.” Danny hangs his head low, touching his chin to his chest. “It can’t be.” he repeats, quieter.

A snore from just across the cave interrupts anymore arguments Merlin would have had. The knights were leaning back, heads against the wall, eyes closed. Gwaine had his mouth hung open, as he was the one snoring.

“I- I don’t know what to do.” Danny said quietly. “Merlin, I don’t know anything anymore.”

“Woah, hey.” Merlin said. He hesitantly reached for Danny’s hand, resting his own on top gently. “It was just a dumb theory. I’m probably wrong.”

“Not about that.” Danny shook his head. “I don’t know how to get us out of here.”

Merlin looked to the front of the cave. The small opening at the top was big enough for fresh air to get in, but too small for anyone, not even the very tiny Danny, to climb out of.

He supposed he could use magic to get everyone out - claim it was a loose rock that caused everything to tumble - but he didn’t want to hurt anyone in the process.

If anything…

He looked over the left. They had one more secret to keep. He’d hate to ask but…

“You could get us out.” 

Danny turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised slightly. “I could?”

“You could turn us all intangible and have us walk through with you.”

Danny looks down at his hands. He faces them both palms up, turns one translucent, then the other. He then turns both of them back, letting them both drop down to the floor. “I...I guess I could.”

Merlin could hear the hesitation, and he knew why. “But?”

Danny nods over to the sleeping knights “....What if they hurt me? What if they think I’m a freak?”

Even though Danny was gesturing to Gwaine and the rest, Merlin knew it wasn’t just them Danny had to worry about. He has been telling him to be cautious using his powers around everyone. Even the townsfolk were considered enemies.

Merlin suddenly realized that it was all his fault Danny felt this way. _He_ was the one that was telling him to be careful all the time. That if he used his powers around others bad things would happen. 

He couldn’t promise that they won’t think of him as a freak. He couldn’t control what they thought. But he could do one thing.

“I won’t let them hurt you.” he said, with as much confidence as he could muster. “If they try, I’ll fight back for you. Or maybe run away with you.”

“And go where?” Danny says, sounding a tad bit desperate. “We’re just kids.”

“I...It doesn’t matter.” He hadn’t thought about that. He shook his head, dismissing the worries rising in his head “We’ll figure it out. Find someplace no one will ever think of you as a freak. And if we don’t find that place, we’ll make it. Even if it’s just the two of us kids.”

Danny laughed gently. It was not a happy laugh. He shook his head back and forth a couple times. “No. I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“But I would.” Merlin argues. And he absolutely would without a second thought. He would do the same thing for Gwen or Arthur, should they need to run.

“Gaius would be heartbroken.” Danny argues back, voice tinged with sadness. Merlin finally understood that Danny didn’t have anyone _but_ him. He didn’t have parents or a mentor. The only friend he had was him, and that saddened him to think about.

“I’d do it.” he reaffirms. He would, still, without a second thought.

“You hardly know me.” Danny’s words cut deep, though he knows they shouldn’t. He turned away, refusing to look him in the eyes anymore. “You don’t know where I come from or who I was friends with. You don’t even know my last name.”

Merlin knew that what Danny said was true. It hurt, but it was true. He’d known Gwen and Gaius, even Arthur, for longer. No matter how close they’ve gotten, Danny was still a new person to him.

But he also knew a lot about him. He knows that Danny accidently uses his powers when he’s happy. He knows that he likes a good challenge. He knows that he’s a bit overconfident, but that he’s also a strong, capable, young boy.

“I know you fought for your life.” Merlin says. “I know you cared about your family and friends. I know that you’re a good person.” he smiles gently. “That’s all I need to know.”

Danny said nothing, still refusing to look at him. 

“And it’s ok if you don’t remember everything.” Merlin said softly, trying to offer even the slightest of comfort.

“But I _do_.” Danny whispered back, even softer.

Merlin sat upright to get a better look at Danny. Or maybe to see if he was joking. But by his hung head and curled-in shoulders, he was clearly not joking.

“You do? I thought you said you could only remember parts of it.”

“I used to.” Danny admitted, not bringing his head up to talk in the slightest. Ashamed, would be the word Merlin would use.

And for a second Merlin wondered what could have brought it all back. But if he thought about it for longer than a second, he knew. He knew exactly what happened.

“The duel.” he says, thumping his head on the back of the cave wall and closing his eyes in defeat. “I should have known.”

“That was only part of it.” Danny admitted, barely above a whisper now.

“What?” Merlin's eyes snapped open again.

“I remember _everything_.” he said, closing in on himself even further. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them.

“What do you mean?” Merlin asked. And he truly doesn’t know. He had so many questions he could have asked. But, instead, he decided to keep his mouth shut until Danny was done talking.

“The last parts that I remember were watching the kids escape. They had been taught to survive in the forest from day one of the raids. I knew they would be safe.” Danny takes a deep breath. “When the raiders found out what I had done, I wasn’t lucky enough to escape.”

Merlin nodded his head, encouraging him to continue. He would keep his mouth shut until Danny was done.

“They- they took the chains they were going to use on the kids and- and wrapped them around my hands. They were tied so tight that it hurt, but...I was in no shape to fight back when they pinned me to the ground.”

Danny hugged his knees even tighter. The sniffles that came shortly after were only the beginning. Merlin wanted nothing more than to hold his friend until he forgot about everything, but, if he were honest, he wanted to know what happened. So he did nothing.

“The last thing I remember is the leader standing over me with a dagger.” Danny sniffled once more. “He..stabbed down on my throat. And I closed my eyes.”

Merlin let the pause in conversation happen without saying anything to lighten the mood, like he normally would. Or like how Danny liked to do.

“The next thing I knew I was in the forest.” Danny eventually continues. “But- but I wasn’t really _me_. I felt empty. Like nothing was there. And I was angry. Incredibly angry. But I couldn’t leave.”

“When I took the time to look around I recognized the things hanging around the shrine. I guess when my friends found safety, they made the shrine in my honor.” Danny’s voice cracked into a little sob. 

Merlin couldn’t help it - he had to do something. “Can I hug you?” he asks softly.

Danny is still crying, trying not to be too loud, but he nods a few times. Merlin takes it as a ‘yes’ and hugs him. Danny leans into his shoulder and sobs even more. Merlin just hugs harder, still trying to offer even the littlest of comfort.

When Danny’s tears finally subside, Merlin starts to pull away. Danny, instead of letting it happen, pulls him back in.

“Stay…” he whispers, clinging to the back of Merlin’s shirt tighter. 

Merlin’s shoulders relax as he nods. “Of course.” he whispers back.

The hug didn’t last forever. Instead, they laid next to each other, legs pulled in and to the side, and held each other's hands as if their lives depended on it. Every once in a while, Danny would shiver. Whether it be from the cold air or the thought of what would happen tomorrow, Merlin didn’t know. All he could do was keep him company, gently squeezing his hand whenever it happened.

But, as the night went on and the moon light from the window dimmed, Danny relaxed into him. And maybe Merlin did the same. Right up until they both fell asleep, holding onto each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're coming up on the end of the series! Thank you to everyone who comments, especially those who do it nearly every chapter. It seriously makes me happy to see you guys in my inbox!
> 
> As always, all comments are welcome. Even just a <3 as an extra kudos!


	12. Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrets revealed and friendships tested, what will the knights say?

Danny could hardly sleep last night. Now that he knew it was all fake, that he was just copying others, it was hard. He could have slept, and he thinks he did for a bit, but he wasn’t tired in the first place. So he stays up all night. Just...sitting there. 

The flickering torches won't stay lit forever, but it would get them through the night. And if Merlin and the knights wouldn’t wake up until the sunlight came pouring through the hole in the rubble, then that was just fine.

Danny was just content to stay sitting propped up against the rocky cave wall. Just thinking. Was it all worth it to give away his secret? Merlin didn’t sound like he was kidding when he said that he could be put in jail or executed for using his powers. 

Then again, were the four of them dying worth it to keep his secret safe?

The answer ended up being simpler than he expected. All he had to do was look over at Merlin, who’s hand he was still holding gently. He looked so tired, with huge dark spots under his eyes. He was much too young to be sleeping in a cave just because Danny was a huge coward who couldn’t risk what Merlin did every day.

So when the sun rose, and the warm light shined on his face, he knew what he had to do.

He was the one to wake everyone up, starting with Merlin. With a small nod and a serious face, Danny thinks he got the message. Together they woke the others up, Percival being the lightest sleeper, who startled awake.

Leon was the next to awaken, jolting upwards when shaken. Gwaine was the most difficult, yet still easy.

“Morning already?” Gwaine jokes, sitting up. The three knights stood up, stretching and yawning all the while. Danny has to give them credit for sleeping soundly in a cave for probably their first time.

“There’s something I need to tell all of you.” Danny says, once everyone’s eyes were on him.

Merlin takes his hand suddenly. “Something that _we_ need to tell you.”

The three look intrigued, but keep silent. Danny takes a deep breath, praying that this all goes well.

“I’m not entirely human,” he says. He raises a hand to silence whatever they were going to say. “Please let me finish before you say anything.”

Gwaine nods with pursed lips, keeping his arms steadily by his side, as the others did the same.

“I died a few years ago.” Danny can’t help his shaking hands, nervous for what was to come. “I became a spirit trapped to a shrine for months.”

“And then I found him.” Merlin takes the lead. “We don’t know exactly what happened but he changed into something not fully human, but not fully spirit either.”

Danny nods, confirming what he is saying. If Merlin isn’t ready to reveal himself, then Danny is going to respect that. He is revealing his own secret of his own free will. He would never take that right away from his friend.

“So now I have the powers I had as a spirit, but I’m still somewhat human.” He raises a hand, turning part of it invisible. The knights tense up, but haven’t raised a hand against them yet. He turns it visible again. “I can do a lot of things, but the one that’s important is that I can turn myself and others intangible.”

“And that’s how we’re going to get out of here.” Merlin says, stepping towards the knights. “If you’ll let him, we can all escape right now.”

The knights say nothing for a bit, only looking at each other periodically. A series of facial expressions that Danny couldn’t tell if they were good or bad passed their faces, but still they were silent.

Gwaine was the first to speak, giving Danny a reprise from the suffocatting silence. “We haven’t known you for long, Danny.” he says slowly, looking over to the other knights as if searching for the right words. “But I think if you had any ill intent you would have done so upon meeting us.”

“Or when you met Arthur.” Percival says, sounding just as calm as always.

“You had plenty of opportunities.” Leon pipes up.

“But all you’ve done is make friends while here.” Gwaine continues. “I think if this was some sort of magic, we would have noticed.”

Merlin, after a long pause, says “So what’s your thoughts on him getting us out of here?”

Gwaine looks to the other knights, giving a firm nod, which they returned. “I don’t see a problem with it, do you boys?”

“No, I suppose we don’t.” Percival says, giving a onceover of Danny. “I see nothing wrong with having a particularly special friend give us a helping hand.”

“And I suppose if this stays between us five, then no one would be the wiser.” Gwaine says, giving just the faintest of smiles.

Danny can’t help but smile back, feeling as if a weight had been lifted. Merlin squeezed his hand, then held his other out to the others. 

“How does this work exactly?” Percival asks, taking Merlin’s hand. “I assume he has to be touching us.”

“We haven’t had to test it out yet, but we’ll only know if we try.” Merlin says. He nods towards Danny’s other, outstretched hand, cueing Gwaine to take it.

Leon takes Gwaine’s as Gwaine takes Danny’s. “Let’s hope nothing goes wrong, then.”

Suddenly the color drains from Danny’s body, leaving him perfectly clear. The fading then spread to the others, starting with the people on either side of him, before eventually turning Leon intangible. 

“All we have to do is walk out.” Danny says. “Just run right into the wall.”

“Last time I tried that I was drunk.” Gwaine laughs, taking the first step. “Let’s hope this time goes better.”

Together they walk hand in hand through the wall, sun beaming into their eyes as they step into the forest yet again. Danny lets the color drain back into himself, letting go of everyone. At the same time, all of them turn tangible again.

Gwaine flexes his arms, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. “A very odd feeling, being intangible.”

“So..now what?” Danny finds himself asking.

“We go home, of course.” Gwaine says. “We say that we went camping and had a good laugh around the fire at my stories. We say that Percival had to put out the fire when it burned too hot. And we say that Leon forgot to pack food.”

“What a night we had.” Leon says, nudging Percival on the shoulder. “Right?”

“Yes, Danny had the funniest of jokes to tell.” Percival says, smiling down at the two of them. “And Merlin here showed us some local herbs during the morning.”

“What a night we had indeed.” Merlin says, catching on. “Henbane is everywhere in these woods.”

Danny felt another, smaller weight be lifted off of his shoulders upon hearing all of this. The knights accepted him for his inhuman ways, even going as far as to lie to anyone who was worried about them disappearing for the night.

And as they walked home, making their way around bushes and trees that Danny recognized, he couldn’t help but smile.

Merlin had always been something of a brother to him, keeping him company, even when he was being annoying and moody. But now he was getting the feeling that maybe the knights could be like that too.

They have grown on him just as much as he’s grown on them, if he were completely honest. 

And if they were willing to risk everything, even their own biased traditions, to help him, then he could stick around for a while longer, just to keep them company.

And if Gaius had more to teach him, then he’d stay long enough to learn as much as he could.

And if Merlin was really like the brother he never had, then he’d stay an eternity for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry for not updating for a long time! For a while I lost interest in this fic, so I hadn't touched it in forever. This is the final chapter I hadn't gotten around to posting for a while, though, so no more worries about that!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment on what you thought!


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